Gaza/Cairo: Israel said on Tuesday it launched attacks on Gaza allegedly after three rockets were fired across the border from the enclave, hours before a truce with Palestinian fighters was set to expire.

The rocket salvoes were launched as Egyptian mediators, holding separate meetings with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, struggled to reach a long-term deal on the future of the Gaza Strip.

An Israeli military spokesperson said three rockets landed in open areas near the city of Beersheba and there were no reports of casualties.

“This rocket attack was a grave and direct violation of the ceasefire,” Mark Regev, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu said.

Earlier, in Cairo, the chief Palestinian delegate in the indirect negotiations cautioned that violence could erupt anew if the talks failed.

After a last-minute agreement was struck on Monday to extend by 24 hours, until 2100 GMT on Tuesday, a deadline to reach a truce, Azzam Al Ahmad, senior leader of President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement, said there had been “no progress on any point” in the negotiations.

The Palestinians are demanding an end to the Egyptian and Israeli blockades of the Gaza Strip.

“We hope that every minute of the coming 24 hours will be used to reach an agreement, and if not [successful], the circle of violence will continue,” Ahmad said.

Palestinian officials held more meetings on Tuesday with Egyptian mediators.

An Israeli government official said Israeli delegates were still in Cairo poring over details of a possible deal, although the parties had not yet agreed a draft.

An agreement would open the way for reconstruction aid to begin to flow to the Gaza Strip, where thousands of homes have been destroyed by Israel in the past several weeks and the United Nations said 425,000 people have been displaced.

The Palestinian Health Ministry put the Gaza death toll at 2,016 and said most were civilians in the small, densely populated coastal territory. Israel claimed it had killed hundreds of Gaza gunmen in the fighting. Sixty-four Israeli soldiers and three civilians in Israel have been killed.

An Israeli official, who asked not to be identified, said Israel’s delegation had been instructed to insist at the talks that its security requirements be met.