Israel-Gaza conflict latest: Hezbollah and Israel exchange heavy fire as Cairo peace talks end without deal

A round of high-level talks in Cairo meant to bring about a ceasefire and hostage deal to temporarily end the 10-month Israel - Hamas war in Gaza ended on Sunday without a final agreement, a US official said.

Talks will continue at lower levels in the coming days to bridge the remaining gaps.

The official, who spoke anonymously to discuss the talks, said lower level “working teams” will remain in Cairo to meet with mediators from the United States, Qatar, and Egypt in hopes of addressing remaining disagreements.

The end of the talks came as Israel and Hezbollah traded heavy fire early on Sunday.

Hezbollah claimed it had hit an Israeli military intelligence site near Tel Aviv as part of a barrage of hundreds of rockets and drones, while Israel claimed its dozens of strikes had been pre-emptive to avert a larger attack. Neither offered evidence.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that the latest exchange of strikes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon is “not the end of the story”.