JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says three rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip, breaking a temporary cease-fire amid negotiations over the war between Israel and Hamas. 
 
 The military says three rockets landed in open fields Tuesday near the southern city of Beersheba. 
 
 Israel launched the war on July 8 to stop incessant rocket fire from Gaza. Currently, Egypt is trying to broker a longer cease-fire to end the war. 
 
 In more than a month of fighting, nearly 2,000 Palestinians have been killed, the majority of them civilians. Israel lost 67 people, all but three of them soldiers. ||||| JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says it has carried out a series of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip in response to renewed rocket fire. There was no immediate word on casualties from the strikes. 
 
 In a statement Tuesday, the military accused Palestinian militants of violating a cease-fire and said it maintains "both defense and striking capabilities in order to address the renewed aggression." 
 
 The airstrikes came minutes after Palestinian militants fired three rockets into Israel, breaking a temporary cease-fire and endangering negotiations in Egypt over ending a monthling war between Israel and Hamas. Authorities said the rockets landed in open areas and caused no injuries. ||||| Story highlights The agreement was reached with the help of Egyptian mediators, the official says 
 
 An Israeli government spokesman did not immedaitely comment on the report 
 
 Seven people were killed Monday in Gaza, officials say 
 
 The U.N. secretary-general says he is "gravely concerned" by the violence 
 
 After days of pounding violence, Palestinian and Israeli authorities have agreed to a truce and to stop all military operations, an Egyptian intelligence official told CNN early Tuesday. 
 
 The agreement was reached with the help of Egyptian mediators, the official said. 
 
 Israeli government spokesman David Baker did not immediately comment on the reported cease-fire. 
 
 Seven people were killed Monday in Gaza, and more than three dozen rockets fell into Israel, the latest events in days of fighting that marked the worst escalation of violence in the coastal territory in months, officials said. 
 
 Israel said its airstrikes have targeted militant rocket launching sites across the Palestinian territory in response to more than 200 rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel since Friday. More than 36 rockets were fired into Israel on Monday, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said 
 
 In Gaza, at least 25 people have been killed in strikes since Friday, while at least 80 people have been wounded. 
 
 "When I was sleeping, all of a sudden I found the entire house falling on top of us," Gaza resident Samer Sukar said from a hospital bed. "What can I say? There was no rocket fire from near our house." 
 
 Sukar said he was injured in a blast Monday while he was at home with his wife and six children. 
 
 Meanwhile, in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, residents took cover. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Israeli airstrikes target Gaza Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Israeli airstrikes target Gaza 01:53 
 
 "It's a very difficult time for us," said Eti Ifrah, 23. "It's impossible to live like this -- every time we want a shower or anything we're worried a bomb will fall." 
 
 Nearly 1 million people in Israel have sought the safety of shelters during the violence, authorities said. 
 
 The fighting is the worst outbreak of violence in Gaza this year and comes as Israel and the world's attention has been largely focused on Iran and Syria. 
 
 "I am gravely concerned at the latest escalation between Gaza and Israel, and once again civilians are paying a terrible price," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement Monday. "Rocket attacks out of Gaza against Israeli civilian areas are unacceptable and must stop immediately. I reiterate my call on Israel to exercise maximum restraint." 
 
 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers Monday that the military "is ready to expand its operations and continue them as necessary." 
 
 "The (Israeli military) is continuing to -- strongly and decisively -- attack the terrorists in the Gaza Strip," he said. "Whoever intends to harm our citizens -- we will strike at him." 
 
 A spokesman for the militant group Islamic Jihad warned Israeli citizens Monday to stay in their bunkers, vowing the group would fire more rockets into southern Israel. 
 
 Speaking at a press conference Monday in Gaza City, Abu Ahmad boasted his group had fired dozens of longer-range Grad rockets into Israel and a larger number of smaller short-range rockets. 
 
 He spoke later to the Islamic Jihad radio station, warning Israel "not to test our patience." 
 
 Twelve Israeli military tanks have moved some 200 meters inside the Gaza border area, according to Palestinian security forces in Gaza. 
 
 Gaza officials cautioned Monday that any further escalation of hostilities would tax the fragile health care system. 
 
 "If we face a new war on Gaza, I am sure the health system will collapse," said Bassem Naim, the minister of health in the Hamas-controlled government. 
 
 Three civilians and four militants were reported killed in Gaza on Monday, but Israeli and Palestinian officials offered different accounts of the violence. 
 
 Palestinian medical officials said an Israeli airstrike killed a civilian man and woman and injured three others Monday afternoon in the northern Gaza neighborhood of Beit Lahia. 
 
 The Israeli military said its strike hit a residential area from which militants fired a rocket. 
 
 "This incident is a blatant example of how terror organizations use human shields to carry out terror attacks from the heart of urban areas and, as occurred in this incident, lead to the apparent injury of uninvolved persons," the military said. 
 
 Israeli and Palestinian officials also offered conflicting accounts of another blast Monday that killed a 15-year-old boy in Gaza. 
 
 Palestinian medical and security sources said an Israeli airstrike killed the teen, but the Israeli military said it did not attack the area where the death was reported. 
 
 "We did not attack during those hours of the morning in the northern Gaza Strip," Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich told CNN, saying that Israeli military activity during the time was focused on southern Gaza. 
 
 "One of the possibilities is that one of the terrorist organizations in Gaza fired a rocket that landed inside Gaza," Leibovich said, noting that some two dozen rockets fired by Palestinians militants in the last four days have landed inside Gaza. 
 
 Two militants also were killed in overnight airstrikes in southern Gaza, Palestinian officials said, and 40 people were injured. Later, Palestinian officials said two more Islamic Jihad militants were killed and a third was injured in an airstrike "east of Gaza." An Israeli military spokeswoman said she was looking into the report. 
 
 The deaths brought the number of Palestinians killed since Friday afternoon to 25, with more than 80 injured, according to Palestinian medical officials. 
 
 Netanyahu suggested Sunday that the new cycle of attacks and counterattacks resulted from a successful Israeli strike on "an arch-terrorist who organized many attacks against the state of Israel." 
 
 "Naturally, this led to another round with the Popular Resistance Committees, Islamic Jihad and other groups," Netanyahu said, naming Palestinian militant groups. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: "The goal must be a durable outcome that promotes regional stability" 
 
 International efforts to finalise a ceasefire are being stepped up after a night of renewed Israeli air strikes in Gaza and sporadic Hamas rocket attacks. 
 
 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is visiting the West Bank and, later, Cairo after talks with Israeli leaders. 
 
 Palestinian sources had suggested a truce would be announced on Tuesday, but Israel said no deal was struck. 
 
 Some 136 Palestinians and five Israelis have been killed since the flare-up began eight days ago, officials say. 
 
 On Tuesday alone, the conflict claimed the lives of at least 20 Palestinians and two Israelis. 
 
 Mrs Clinton has arrived in Ramallah on the West Bank for talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is also visiting leaders in the region to try to cement a ceasefire. 
 
 In Cairo, officials from Hamas, the militant Palestinian group that has governed Gaza since 2007, had suggested a truce would come into effect at midnight on Tuesday, but Israel later said it had not agreed to a text. 
 
 Israel's demands include no hostile fire of any kind from Gaza and international efforts to prevent Hamas from re-arming, while Hamas is demanding an end to the blockade on Gaza and targeted killings by Israel. 
 
 Before me two men are salvaging burnt & damaged copies of the Quran from the rubble of the compound Paul Danahar (@pdanahar) on Twitter 
 
 An Israeli official told Israel Radio the ceasefire had not been agreed because of "a last-minute delay in the understandings between Hamas and Israel". 
 
 Offices struck 
 
 In the early hours of Wednesday, BBC correspondents in Gaza reported hearing loud explosions that were followed by a widespread power cut. 
 
 Israeli missiles struck the main complex of the Hamas-run government in the centre of Gaza City. 
 
 The BBC's Paul Danahar in Gaza said the huge compound had been laid to waste and was little more than dust and rubble. 
 
 The Israeli military later tweeted it had "surgically targeted a Hamas intelligence operations centre" on the seventh floor of a media building. 
 
 Israel's military, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said it had attacked more than 100 "terror sites" in Gaza overnight "of which approximately 50 were underground rocket launchers". 
 
 The health ministry in Gaza said 15 more people had been injured overnight. 
 
 The BBC's Jon Donnison in Gaza says the streets were again empty on Wednesday morning, as people tried to protect themselves at home while waiting for something positive to come from talks in Cairo. 
 
 Israel says more than 800 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel over the past week, 162 in the past day alone. 
 
 Many of the rockets have been intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system. 
 
 Overnight, two rockets were knocked down by Iron Dome and others landed on open ground, Israel Radio said. By morning, air raid sirens sounded in many parts of southern Israel, local media reported. 
 
 'Sustainable outcome' 
 
 Hamas officials in Cairo accused Israel of failing to respond to ceasefire proposals. 
 
 Israeli spokesman Mark Regev told the BBC: "I have no doubt that Hamas would be more than happy to have a temporary respite - a time out... so they could rest and re-arm and we would have missiles on Israel next week or next month. We are not interested in that." 
 
 Image caption Smuggling tunnels between Egypt and Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip have been targeted by Israel 
 
 US state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Mrs Clinton - who flew into Jerusalem late on Tuesday - had held two hours of talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials. 
 
 "They discussed efforts to de-escalate the situation and bring about a sustainable outcome that protects Israel's security and improves the lives of civilians in Gaza," Ms Nuland said. 
 
 Speaking just before the talks, Mr Netanyahu said Israel wanted a diplomatic solution but that he was ready to take "whatever action" was necessary. 
 
 "If there is a possibility of achieving a long-term solution to this problem by diplomatic means, we prefer that. But if not, then I am sure you will understand that Israel will have to take whatever actions are necessary to defend its people," he said. 
 
 Israel's Haaretz newspaper said there were divided views in the government over the truce proposals, with Defence Minister Ehud Barak in favour of accepting an Egyptian draft, while Mr Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman were opposed. 
 
 The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says both sides want more out of this than just a ceasefire. The Palestinians want a lifting of the blockade of Gaza, permanently reopening the borders. He says the hope would be that this will defuse tension and reduce pressure on Hamas. 
 
 The Israelis want an end to attacks, our correspondent says, but specifically want to prevent Hamas restocking its missiles. He says the key to that is how the Egyptians can seal the border; but this is politically sensitive among the Egyptian people and also physically difficult, as the military has a lot of trouble controlling militants in Sinai. 
 
 Israel launched its current offensive a week ago with the killing of Hamas military leader Ahmed Jabari. The Israeli government says his assassination, and the subsequent offensive, aims to end rocket fire from Gaza. 
 
 Israel has troops massed along the Gaza border but says it is holding off on a possible ground invasion as talks continue.
– The temporary Gaza ceasefire was broken today when three rockets landed in Israel, its military says, per the AP; the reported attack prompted new Israeli airstrikes within minutes. The rockets landed in fields near Beersheba, southern Israel; no one was hurt, officials say. An Israeli official says the military's new strikes are targeting "terror sites," the BBC reports. The attacks came hours before the scheduled end of the current ceasefire, the New York Times notes, adding that it's not certain who was behind the latest rocket attacks.