Rockets shot out of Gaza just after 8 a.m., Friday, as a 72-hour truce between Hamas and Israel expired with no end to war in sight.

Although Israel appeared to extend the truce for now, a barrage of at least 10 rockets left the Gaza Strip intended for Southern Israeli targets.

Israeli Defense Force spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, said one rocket was knocked down by the Iron Dome anti-missile system over Ashkelon while the others fell harmlessly in open spaces causing no injuries or damage.

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IDF said at least eight more rockets flew out of Gaza in the next two hours. Several were intercepted by Iron Dome and the rest hit open spaces with no effect.

Gaza had been quiet for three days as Israeli ground forces redeployed across the border and drones, jets and missiles went quiet.

A joint Fatah-Hamas-Islamic Jihad Palestinian delegation traveled to Egypt where they accepted a continuing truce agreement authored by Egypt similar to the one they rejected three weeks ago. Israel didn't send a delegation to the talks, but said it was interested in extending the ceasefire indefinitely, then entering into more comprehensive negotiations over substantive issues.

Each of the two sides seemed to have an issue causing cease-fire talks to stall in their tracks. Israel insisted on demilitarization of the Strip as a settlement condition. The military wing of Hamas, splitting with other Palestinian parties, insisted on immediate lifting of the blockade of goods and movement of people into and from Gaza. They also wanted release of prisoners held by Israel.

It all became moot for a time, namely 8 a.m., as militants fired rockets within sight of television crews on the Strip's beachside road. Missile booms were heard and reporters watched Iron Dome scatter white plumes in its wake as it destroyed a Hamas rocket.

More than 1,900 Palestinians died in the monthlong war before the truce. United Nations officials, based on reports from Gaza health workers, said 80 percent of Palestinian deaths were civilians. IDF officials said more than 900 Hamas fighters were killed. IDF also reported 64 soldiers and three Israeli civilians died in the fighting.

A spokesman for the Quassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, appeared on Al Aqsa TV, the Hamas station, and declared victory. The spokesman said their forces were ready to resume battle in order to create a better life in the Strip.

Israeli defense officials said they had achieved their goal on the Gaza ground, destroying 32 terror tunnels Hamas intended to use to infiltrate the border and greatly diminishing Hamas' ability to fight.

TagsIsrael-Gaza crisis, Israel vs. Hamas, Palestinians, Truce, politics, Civil unrest