Israel killed a commander of the Palestinian militant group Hamas in an airstrike on southern Lebanon on Friday, further testing a ceasefire that halted last year's war between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

An already fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah appeared to be on shakier ground after rockets fired from Lebanon into northern Israel triggered Israeli airstrikes in the suburbs of Beirut.

The Hamas militant group said Saturday it has accepted a new Gaza ceasefire proposal from mediators Egypt and Qatar, but Israel said it has made a counter-proposal in "full coordination" with the third mediator, the United States.

The Israeli military has intensified strikes on parts of Gaza after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged that the country’s forces would be “switching gears” in the territory, dividing and seizing more parts of the strip.

The announcement came after Netanyahu’s defense minister said that Israel would seize large areas of Gaza and add them to its so-called security zones.

Israel ended a ceasefire in March and has imposed a monthlong halt on all imports of food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortages as supplies