Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovitch told journalists at a briefing in Ashdod Friday morning the IDF is preparing plans for the option of a ground invasion into Gaza after further military escalations by Hamas.

The statement came following a missile attack that scored a direct hit on a gas station in the Mediterranean port city earlier on, striking a fuel truck. The resulting explosion left one man critically wounded and two others moderately to lightly injured.

“This is a complex conflict and we are hitting them hard,” Aharonovitch said. “We are preparing for the option of a ground incursion,” he warned. “Everyone should follow the instructions of the Home Front Command.”

Late Thursday Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ended a marathon security cabinet meeting with the announcement that Operation Protective Edge is proceeding as planned. “More stages are coming,” he promised, without revealing what those might be, or when they would be carried out.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz likewise were mum on the subject, backing the prime minister in reassuring Israelis that everything was going according to plan — but revealing little else.

In Tel Aviv, three M75 missiles were shot down directly over the metropolitan area by the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system, the shrapnel from the interception dropping directly on to the city from the skies.

Israeli police patrolled the streets of Tel Aviv in an effort to keep curious residents from touching the sharp metal, some of which may have had chemical agents sprayed on to it.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said officers remained on site to prevent residents from hurting themselves.

No injuries were reported in the attack itself.

In Jerusalem, police blocked entry for Friday prayers at the Temple Mount in the Old City for all Muslims other than women of any age, and males age 50 and older who were carrying Israeli identity cards.

Security forces remained on alert at the site and prepared to deal with any outbreaks of violence, which often take place due to incitement during sermons in the mosque at Friday prayers. Friday is the Islamic Sabbath.

Nearly a million Israelis were sent scrambling mid-morning Friday as Gaza terrorists fired three M75 missiles at central Israel.

All three missiles were intercepted over the metropolitan Tel Aviv area by the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system — at a cost of $50,000 per interceptor missile.

Early Friday morning, Lebanese terrorists seemed to be joining the conflict with Israel launched by the Hamas terrorist rulers of Gaza.

IDF Spokesperson Lt.Col. Peter Lerner told journalists it is not clear whether the rocket fire was “symbolic or something more substantial” at this point. However, he said, Israel has suspected for some time that terrorists in Lebanon might open a second front in the conflict with Islamist terrorists Gaza.

At least three rockets have been fired at Israel from Lebanon since midnight, the first having been launched at about 2 am. That one didn’t make it to Israel and apparently landed within Lebanon.

Two more missiles were fired from a southern Lebanon village into Israel at about 6:30 a.m.

One of the missiles exploded in an open area on the outskirts of the northern Israeli city of Metullah, located on the border with Lebanon.

The second missile – reported by Lebanese media but unconfirmed at this point by Israel — apparently malfunctioned and landed inside Lebanese territory.

Forces from UNIFIL (United Nations International Force in Lebanon) and Lebanese security personnel immediately began to search for those who launched the missiles.

Within the hour the IDF responded with its own barrage of artillery fire, aiming at targets across the northern border.

The Islamist Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon is generously funded, equipped and trained by Iran, and in recent years has been actively involved in teaching its skills to the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror groups in Gaza. Hezbollah terrorist cells have been found in the Sinai Peninsula and in various other locations around the world, particularly in Europe – in many cases where Hamas also has mini-bases and “satellite headquarters.” Likewise, Hamas and PIJ have received much funding and weaponry from Iran over the past several years.

All three groups are also linked to Syria; in the current conflict, Hamas for the first time began firing a new longer-range M302 missile, produced by Syria.

1:24am (Friday) Code Red alert: Ashkelon, Ashkelon Coastal Region

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140 rockets and missiles struck Israel in the past 24 hours, 44 intercepted by Iron Dome, IDF struck some 222 targets across the Gaza region according to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. Among these were several Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists involved in rocket attacks against Israel.

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10:39pm Prayer request: Please stop for a second and say a prayer for Mordechai Chai ben Bracha Yehudit….wounded tonight in Gaza rocket attack. …going into surgery now.

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10:28pm Color Red alerts:  Sdot Negev and Shar Hanegev

10:23pm Color Red alert: Kfar Aza, Kibbutz Sa’ad, Sdot Negev, Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Councils

9:55pm Color Red alert: Sdot Negev, Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Councils

9:34pm Color Red alert: Sdot Negev, Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Councils

9:32 pm Color Red alert: Nahal Oz, Alumim, Ashkelon Coastal Region

9:17pm Color Red alert: Ashdod

9:15 pm Color Red alert: Ashdod x2,

9:14 pm Color Red alert: Ashkelon x2

9:14 Color Red alert: Givati, NIr Galim, Nitzanim

8:57 Color Red alert: Nir Galim,Yavneh, Ashdod

8:51pm Color Red alerts: Ashdod, Gan Yavne, Beer Tuvia, Brenner, Gaderot, Hevel Yavne, Hof Ashkelon

8:35 pm Color Red alerts: Gan Yavne, Kiryat Malachi, Beer Tuvia, Gederot, Yoav, Shafir

7:45 Color Red alerts: going off in Bat Yam, Rehovot, Lod

7:44 Siren: Color Red alerts: Rishon Lezion, Gedera, Ness Ziona

7:41 Color Red alerts: Eshkol Regional Council

Soldiers injured

7:40 Color Red alerts: Sdot Negev, Merchavim, Bnei Shimon Regional Council, Lehavim, and Shar Hanegev

7:32 Color Red alerts: Merchavim, and Beer Sheva

7:29 Color Red alerts: Mitzpe Ramon

7:27 Color Red alerts: Be’er Sheva

7:26 Color Red alerts: Lehavim, Bnei Shimon Regional Council and Omer

7:11 Color Red alerts: Sha’ar Hanegev

6:56pm Color Red alerts: Eshkol, Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Councils

6:53 Color Red alerts: Ashkelon Coastal Region

5:56: Color Red alerts: Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh, Gush Etzion, Beitar Ilit, Beit El, Mevasseret Tzion, Maaleh Adumim, Har Hevron, Matte Binyamin, Matte Yehuda.

Four Rockets fired at Jerusalem from Gaza: two intercepted by Iron Dome…two landed in open areas.

Loud booms.

5:54 Color Red alert: Eshkol Regional Council

5:54 Color Red alert: Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council

4:58 Color Red alerts: Sderot, Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council

4:55 IDF takes out two members of a rocket crew

4:56 Color Red alerts: Eshkol, Ashkelon Coastal Region

4:48 Color Red alert: Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council

4:46 Color Red alert: Ashkelon

4:40 Color Red alerts: Sderot and Sha’ar HaNegev

4:34pm Color Red alerts:Sdot Negev and Sha’ar HaNegev

4:29pm Color Red alert: Ashkelon Coastal Region

4:26pm Color Red alerts: Sdot Negev and Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Councils

4:22pm Color Red alerts: Sdot Negev and Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Councils

4:18pm Color Red alerts: Sdot Negev, Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Councils

4:06pm Color Red alerts: Eshkol Regional Council, Ashkelon

4:07pm Color Red alerts: Ashkelon region

4:05pm Color Red alerts: Eshkol and Sdot Negev Regional Councils

4:01pm Color Red alerts: Be’er Sheva

3:47pm Color Red alert: Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council

3:47 Color Red Sderot

3:35 Color Red Askelon

3:12 Color Red in Eshkol region, Shar Hanegev

3:07 Red Alert Eshkol

2:35 Big barrage: Ashdod, Ashkelon, Nitzanim, Beer Tuvia, Hevel Yavneh regions and Hof Ashkelon region.

2:25 Kibbutz Beeri Area (Eshkol)

2:14 pm Red Alert Beer-Sheva

1:53 Eshkol

1:39 Red Alert Be’er Sheva x2 3 Iron Dome intercepts.
Also Gilat, Yifrach.

1:04 Rockets toward southern Gush Dan (Yavneh, Rechovot, Soreq, Lod, Ramle, Hevel Modiin – not Modiin)

12:59pm Red Alert: Ashkelon, Zikim, Karmiya, Yad Mordechai, Netiv Ha’Asara

12:44pm Code Red Sdot Negev, Shaar Negev, Kibbutz Aza and Saad

Noon – Red Alert: Ofakim, Merchavim region

11:35 Eshkol

11:24 Sirens in Tel Aviv-Yafo. 1 intercepted. 1 hit.

11:19 Sderot, Shaar HaNegev

10:54am Sirens in Bnei Shimon region….extended Beer Sheva region but not necessarily Beer Sheva the city. ..

10:52am Bnei Shimon

10:38am Color Red: Yad Morchai Netiv Ha’Asara Color, Hof Ashkelon, Eshkol

10:20 Nachal Oz

10:18 Sdot Hanegev, Shaar Hanegev

10:03am Sirens in Mitzpe Ramon (there already is a crater there), Dimona, Yerucham

9:43am Eshkol Region

9:26 am Netivot, Bnei Shimon, Sdot Negev region

8:59am Sirens in Netivot and Shaar HaNegev.

7:59am SIRENS ONGOING IN TEL AVIV….Gush Dan….and the Southern Sharon region.

7:56am Sirens in Tel Aviv…… Iron Dome x3.

7:47am Color red alerts in Shaar HaNegev and Hof Ashkrlon regions

7:27am Sirens in Ofakim

7:26am Color Red Alerts Hof Ashkelon

7:12am Red Alert Shaar Hanegev.

7:00am Note to Hamas. Time for davening (prayers), please hold off shooting until I finish, so I don’t miss a single update. As it was, it was extremely rude to shoot at us overnight while we were trying to sleep.

6:15am Good morning, we’ll start with an overnight roundup of rocket attacks, and continue on from there. Keep safe.

Day 3 of Operation Protective Edge (looks like they’ll need to rename that to Protective Center, and Protective North)

The IDF has hit 590 terror targets since the beginning of the operation, and that appears to be the tip of the iceberg.
Gaza has launched 390 rockets at Israel.

6:15am Red alerts Shaar HaNegev

2:36am Red alert Eshkol

1:19am Large barrage of rockets at Israel’s Negev. Iron Dome interceptions some, the rest fall in open areas.

1:17am Sirens in Merchavim region.

1:16am Red Alerts in Ashkelon.

As ground forces of the IDF prepare to enter Gaza, Israel’s Air Force, Navy and Security Agency (Shin Bet) intelligence agents continue to operate on other fronts.

Israeli civilians are taking a deep breath and continuing to carry on their daily affairs as much as humanly possible given the situation and the missiles being fired at their families and homes.

Gaza terrorist groups are competing to see who can launch the missile at Israel that flies the farthest, fastest. All are deeply frustrated by their failure to score a significant “hit,” according to military analysts.

Hamas has made a number of attempts to strike the Dimona nuclear reactor. Each time, the group’s newest acquisition, the Syrian-made M302 missile, has failed to deliver — instead, it was intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system.

The M302 as a range of 160 kilometers (100 miles) and carries a warhead weighing approximately 144 kilograms (318 pounds.) From Gaza, it can reach as far as Nahariya, north of Haifa, but it is not clear whether that is with or without explosives in the warhead.

Late Thursday Hamas claimed that it deployed another new missile in its arsenal: the Iranian-made Sajl — or “Sejjil” (‘baked clay’ in Persian) rocket. The group said that so far it has launched 10 of these longer-range missiles — but the claim makes no sense.

It may instead be part of the signature disinformation campaign that marks the intermediate part of a Hamas military campaign — that which includes boasting, threats, the use of human shields, misinformation and wild exaggerations.

The true “medium range” Iranian Sejjil-2 is a ballistic missile that weighs 21.5 tons and measures 18.2 meters in length, with a diameter of 1.25 – 1.50 meters. It is propelled by solid fuel and has an operational range of 2,000 kilometers, and allegedly is harder to detect by anti-missile systems, as it is covered with anti-radar material. The missile is also more efficient as it requires less amount of time for prelaunch preparations, according to a 2009 statement by Iran’s Press TV.

It is odd to think of Iran gifting such a powerful, valuable weapon to Hamas, when the entire length of the State of Israel is only 260 miles, or 418 kilometers. But if Hamas were to fire such a weapon, one has to wonder where it would land; probably not anywhere in the Jewish State. With a range of 2,000 kilometers, one wrong launch could land Hamas in very hot water with its patrons, and Israel’s hostile northern neighbors.

Meanwhile, here is a quick guide to the rest of the arsenal currently being held by Hamas and its allies in Gaza, courtesy of the IDF:

Hamas Short range (15-20 km) Over 1,000 units of self-produced rockets (15 km) Over 2,500 units of smuggled rockets (15 km) Approx. 200 units of self-produced Grad rockets (20 km) Approx. 200 units of smuggled Grad rockets (20 km) Medium range (up to 45 km) Approx. 200 units of self-produced improved Grad rockets (45 km) Approx. 1,000 units of smuggled improved Grad rockets (45 km) Medium-Long range (up to 80 km) Over 400 units of self-produced medium range rockets Several dozen of rockets (80 km) Long range (100-200 km) Tens of long-range rockets (100-200 km) In Total: Approximately 6,000 rockets

Palestinian Islamic Jihad Short range (15-20 km) Approx. 1,000 units of self-produced rockets (15 km) Approx. 1,000 units of smuggled rockets (15 km) Approx. 300 units of self-produced Grad rockets (20 km) Approx. 100 units of smuggled Grad rockets (20 km) Medium range (up to 45 km) Approx. 200 units of self-produced improved Grad rockets (45 km) Approx. 600 units of smuggled improved Grad rockets (45 km) Medium-Long range (up to 80 km) Over 100 units of self-produced medium range rockets Several medium-long range rockets (80 km) In Total: Approximately 5,500 rockets

Other Terror Organizations Short range (15-20 km) Hundreds of self-produced and smuggled rockets including Grad rockets (15 km) Medium range (up to 45 km) Dozens of self-produced and smuggled improved Grad rockets (45 km)

As of 7 pm Thursday night, Gaza terrorists fired 124 rockets and missiles at Israeli civilians since midnight. Of those, 21 were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system, at a cost of $50,000 per interceptor missile.

At least 350 missiles and rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza since the start of Operation Protective Edge, as of Thursday evening. The Iron Dome has intercepted 87 of those that were headed for populated areas.

Hamas terrorists launched a blanket of missile fire at central and southern Israel Thursday evening in an effort to penetrate the protective shield provided by the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system.

The IDF meantime warned Gaza residents living near the border that it was in their best interest to evacuate the area. Operation Protective Edge is about to heat up.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spent the day on the phone with world leaders, warning that this time Israel would not end its operation until Hamas stops firing rockets at Israeli civilians. The prime minister said at a security cabinet meeting Thursday afternoon that Israel would ramp up Operation Protective Shield by nightfall.

IDF Southern Commander Sami Turgeman told journalists at a news conference Thursday the IDF would “intensify the action.” The enemy has more rockets and more of them, Turgeman explained. “More of the terrorist structure will be hit. We are preparing all the capabilities, and will utilize them as they are needed….The results Hamas finds when it comes out of hiding will surprise it.”

Meanwhile, barrages of domestic produced M75s and Syrian-made M302s were fired at the metro Jerusalem area. One landing near a Bedouin community on the outskirts of the northern Jerusalem suburb of Ma’ale Adumim.

Another barrage was aimed at the Dan region, including the cities of Bat Yam, Holon and Rishon LeZion. The Iron Dome system intercepted at least one missile fired in that direction.

Color Red rocket alert sirens wailed through the southern Hebron Hills — including the communities of Kiryat Arba, Pnei Hever, Carmel, Maon, Avigail, Susya, Yatir, Otniel, Shani, and Machane Yatir.

Missiles went flying towards the Negev cities of Be’er Sheva, Mitzpe Ramon, Dimona, Yerucham and for the first time, Arad residents headed to the shelters as well.

The Iron Dome anti-missile system activated to intercept at least one missile heading for Dimona, sources said.

The Hamas terrorist organization claimed in a statement that it had fired 10 new Iranian-made Sajl missiles in Thursday’s attacks on Israel.

The Color Red rocket alert siren activated as far east as the Ein Bokek and Tamar Regional Council district, which includes the hotel strip at the southern end of the Dead Sea, several moshavim and kibbutzim near the Jordanian border, Masada, and Kibbutz Ein Gedi.

One missile struck a home in Be’er Sheva, but the residents were safely waiting out the attack in their fortified shelter within the house and were not harmed. Another missile landed near a sports center in the city; several people were injured in that attack, according to a report broadcast on Channel 2.

A house was also hit in the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council district. In Sderot, one rocket landed between two parked cars. Another struck a home in the city, which is located barely a mile from the Gaza border.

Nine rockets were fired simultaneously at targets in the Eshkol Regional Council district, close to the southern border. No one was injured in that attack.

Altogether, more than 20 missiles were fired simultaneously in the evening barrage at targets around the country.

In a separate attack, a group of 10 cows were killed and many others were hurt after a missile struck a cowshed in a moshav near Ashdod.