A truce between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza has ended amid fresh air strikes which Israel says were countering rocket fire.

Palestinian group Hamas said the wife and child of its military commander Mohammed Deif were killed in the raids.

Israel said about 50 rockets were launched from Gaza on Tuesday, but there were no injuries reported.

Talks in Cairo to end the violence broke up with no deal, and Israeli delegates said they would return home.

Trading blame

Officials say 2,016 Palestinians and 66 Israelis have died since Israel began its offensive on Gaza on 8 July.

Azzam al-Ahmad, the lead Palestinian negotiator and a senior member of the Fatah movement, blamed Israel for the failure to reach a deal.

"There was an Israeli decision to make the Cairo talks fail," he said in quotes carried by Reuters news agency.

However, Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that rocket fire from Gaza had "made continuation of talks impossible" and "destroyed the premise upon which the talks were based".

The US has voiced concern about the renewed hostilities, and blamed Hamas, the Gaza-based Palestinian Islamist group.

"Israel has the right to defend itself against such attacks," state department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters.

Israeli officials said the first three rockets landed in open fields near Beersheba, causing no injuries. Two were intercepted over Netivot.

Later, longer-range rockets targeted Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the Israeli military said - and warning sirens have sounded around southern and central Israel.

Witnesses in Gaza reported several Israeli air strikes, from Beit Lahiya in the north to Rafah in the south.

Source: BBC