Hamas denies firing rockets amid ceasefire

Two rockets, fired from Gaza, hit Israel on Wednesday evening hours before a 72-hour ceasefire was due to finish.

The rockets fell on southern Israel shortly before 10pm local time (2000 GMT), the Israeli military said. The ceasefire was due to expire at midnight local time. 

Hamas was quick to deny involvement in the attack. 

"Hamas denies firing any rockets toward Israel this evening," Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said in a post on his Facebook page. 

There has not yet been any official response about the attacks and it is unclear whether peace talks in Cairo have failed yet again.

Russia Today correspondent Harry Fear, tweeted about the uncertainty. 

However, Barak Ravid, a diplomatic correspondent, for Israeli newspaper Haaretz, who has been covering the negotiations, tweeted that they have failed. 

Palestinian reports yesterday pointed to the two sides edging closer to a deal, although Israeli had stayed largely tight lipped about what was happening behind the scenes. It now appears that the key issue of lifting the Israeli air and naval blockade of Gaza may have derailed the talks, various media sources and commentators have said. 

Shortly before the rocket attack, Egypt was reportedly scrambling to extent the talks. 

“The sides understand that the progress made so far is encouraging, and that there is no reason to return to the military conflict,” an Egyptian source familiar with the talks told Haaretz. 

Proir to the attack, Israeli negotiators were also said to be keen to extend the ceasefire, in order to allow the talks to continue. 

"Israel agreed to an Egyptian proposal to extend the truce by 72 hours," the official told AFP shortly after the negotiating team returned from Cairo following a third day of talks.