ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - US special envoy Amos Hochstein arrived in Beirut on Tuesday amid accelerating efforts to broker a ceasefire, and discuss details of a truce plan to bring the Israel-Hezbollah war to an end. 

The United States and France have led an international effort for a ceasefire in the Hezbollah and Israel war, a conflict that has intensified since late September. Both sides have engaged in nearly daily exchanges of fire. 

Hochstein’s arrival in Beirut comes as Hezbollah a day earlier said it had targeted Israeli military bases in Tel Aviv with explosive-laden drones. The Israeli government said five people were injured in the drone attacks. 

In response, Israel carried out a fresh wave of airstrikes on central Beirut, killing five people and wounding 31 others,  according to the health ministry of Lebanon.

On Sunday, ten people were killed in Israeli strikes around central Beirut, including Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif and four members of his media team.  Afif was the latest senior Hezbollah official to be killed in Israel’s air campaign. 

Hochstein's visit to Beirut comes on the heels of a truce deal presented to the Lebanese government by Washington to end the war. 

A government official, who is aware of the details of the plan, has told AFP that Beirut had "a very positive view" on the armistice proposal.

"We are finalizing our last remarks about the US wording of the draft," the official said.

Israel shifted the focus of its war from Gaza to Lebanon after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges of fire.

More than 3,500 people have been killed since October last year, with the bulk of the casualties recorded since September 24, according to data from the Lebanese health ministry 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said that even if a truce is reached, Tel Aviv would press on with its cross-border strikes.

"We will be forced to ensure our security in the north and to systematically carry out operations against Hezbollah's attacks... even after a ceasefire,” Netanyahu said, adding there was no evidence that Hezbollah would abide by any truce.