Fighting threatens to derail Gaza ceasefire talks as Hezbollah fires 'dozens' of rockets while Israeli army cut off warzone from aid trucks - as Netanyahu says 'surrendering' to Hamas would be 'terrible defeat'

Fighting has threatened to derail Gaza ceasefire talks after Hezbollah fired 'dozens' of rockets in retaliation for an Israeli strike that killed four people in Lebanon.

The Iranian-backed militia launched the salvo into Israel after the quartet, which included one child, were killed in an airstrike. It marks a further escalation in the conflict on the Jewish state's northern border.

It comes as the Israeli army said it had closed a key border crossing into southern Gaza to aid trucks after rockets were fired towards the gateway. 

Meanwhile Hamas has accused Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to sabotage the efforts of mediators by inventing 'constant justifications for the continuation of aggression'.

The Israeli Prime Minister said today that if a ceasefire was reached in return for Hamas giving back hostages it would be a 'terrible defeat' for his nation and vowed to not to agree to their demands.

The fresh outbreak of violence on Sunday comes as the conflict stemming from Hamas's terrorist atrocities which killed more than 1,400 Israelis on October 7, last year, shows no sign of coming to an end. 

In the north fighting has intensified in recent weeks, with Israel striking deeper into Lebanese territory, while Hezbollah has stepped up its missile and drone attacks on military positions in northern Israel.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said an Israeli airstrike in Mais al-Jabal killed 'four people from a single family'.

It identified them as a man, a woman and their children aged 12 and 21, and said two other people were wounded.

A Lebanese security source, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed the strike killed 'four civilians'.

Mais al-Jabal municipality chief Abdelmoneim Shukair had earlier told AFP that three people were killed, saying they were a couple and their son.

Hezbollah in a statement said it fired 'dozens of Katyusha and Falaq rockets' at Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel 'in response to the horrific crime that the Israeli enemy committed in Mais al-Jabal'.

The Lebanese movement has repeatedly declared that only a ceasefire in Gaza will put an end to its attacks on Israel, which it says are in support of Gazans and its ally Hamas.

Both the United States and France have made diplomatic efforts to calm tensions on the Lebanese-Israeli border.

In Lebanon, at least 390 people have been killed in nearly seven months of cross-border violence, mostly militants but also more than 70 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

Israel says 11 soldiers and nine civilians have been killed on its side of the border. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides.

Meanwhile, Israel's army said Sunday that it had closed Kerem Shalom, the key border crossing into southern Gaza, to aid trucks after rockets were fired towards the gateway.

'Approximately 10 projectile launches were identified crossing from the area adjacent to the Rafah Crossing toward the area of Kerem Shalom,' the army said in a statement.

It added that the 'Kerem Shalom Crossing is currently closed to the passage of humanitarian aid trucks'.

Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday accused Netanyahu of sabotaging efforts by mediators involved in ongoing talks aimed at a truce and hostage exchange in Gaza.

Qatar-based Haniyeh said Netanyahu wanted to 'invent constant justifications for the continuation of aggression, expanding the circle of conflict, and sabotaging efforts made through various mediators and parties.'

However, Netanyahu said Sunday that accepting Hamas's demand to end the war in Gaza in order to reach a hostage release deal would be a 'terrible defeat' for Israel.

'Surrendering to the demands of Hamas would be a terrible defeat for the state of Israel. It will be a huge victory for Hamas, for Iran, for the entire axis of evil,' he said at a cabinet meeting.

'Therefore, Israel will not agree to Hamas's demands, which mean surrender, and will continue the fighting until all its goals are achieved.'

There was some optimism that a deal could be reached.

'Things look better this time, but whether an agreement is on hand would depend on whether Israel has offered what it takes for that to happen,' a Palestinian official told Reuters.

Israel has given a preliminary nod to terms which one source said included the return of between 20 and 33 hostages in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and a weeks-long suspension of fighting.

That would leave around 100 hostages in Gaza, some of whom have died in captivity, according to Israel.

The source told Reuters their return may require an additional deal with broader Israeli concessions.

'That could entail a de facto, if not formal, end to the war – unless Israel somehow recovers them through force or generates enough military pressure to make Hamas relent,' the source said.

Egyptian sources said CIA director William Burns arrived in Cairo on Friday.

He has been involved in previous truce talks, and Washington has signalled there may be progress this time, with Mr Blinken saying 'taking the ceasefire should be a no-brainer' for Hamas.