Two rockets fired from Gaza landed in open areas in Eshkol Regional Council at 4 am, hours ahead of the expiration of the 72-hour ceasefire that ended a month of violence, the IDF said.

The rockets fell into an open area in southern Israel and caused no casualties, it added. There has been no immediate Israeli response.

No one claimed responsibility for the rockets and it was not clear if it was the Hamas group that had fired them. There are a number of militant groups in the crowded territory that operate outside the control of Hamas with rockets of their own.

A senior official says Hamas has decided not to extend the ceasefire with Israel because Israel has rejected all of the group's demands in indirect talks in Cairo.

The cease-fire is to end at 8 am Friday.