The lights are out again in Gaza, and as usual the Palestinian Authority is blaming Israel. But making spurious claims is not stopping families from starting to get the point: it’s time to think about staying alive. And journalists are beginning to document what’s really happening in Gaza.

But because of the fog of battle, it is not yet clear whose missile, mortar, rocket or grenade hit the fuel storage tank that knocked out the lights.

There is no confirmation from the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit that Israel is to blame for the incident; a spokesperson is “checking the report.”

According to Gaza power company spokesperson Jamal Dardasawi, one of three fuel storage tanks in the plant compound was hit by the shelling — and of course it must have been a shell from an IDF tank. Two, in fact.

Maybe it was. Right now it’s impossible to know anything.

But Gaza’s power plant has been working at reduced capacity for months due to a vastly inadequate supply of fuel and the fact that the plant was already hit last week. To this point, it has been working at about 20 percent capacity, providing about four hours a day of electricity to the region’s residents.

For years, Hamas refused to pay for the fuel it needs to power the plant. It preferred to insist that it had the right to receive the supply either free, or at nearly free prices. If not from Israel, then from Egypt. If not from Egypt, then from anyone else. Egypt finally closed the spigot.

It’s not a lack of money that is the problem either – Hamas is perfectly willing to invest millions in weaponry, and construction of terrorist tunnels with which to attack Israel. That much has become abundantly clear from the photographs taken by IDF soldiers prior to destruction of the tunnels they have conquered.

The intricate network of bunkers and underground infrastructure that exists in the multi-layered subterranean city the IDF has only now just begun to uncover literally stretches from one end of Gaza to the other – a matter of miles, and billions of dollars of investment.

Meanwhile, Iron Dome anti-missile system operators were kept busy Tuesday morning while IDF warriors battled tunnel terrorists in the Gaza City neighborhood of Sejaiyya.

Telephone operators at IDF headquarters warned Gaza residents in eastern Khan Younis at midday Tuesday to evacuate their homes immediately — for their own safety — and move to the central part of the city in advance of an IDF attack in the area. Flyers were also dropped over the city and SMS text messages were transmitted to cell phones to ensure that residents got the message.

There have been numerous reports of Hamas terrorists trying to prevent those residents who actually want to leave from quitting their homes and the combat zones, in order to keep them as human shields. One journalist who was seen photographing such events was threatened by the terrorists, and his equipment confiscated. All three incidents are outright war crimes, of course.

Gaza terrorists still were somehow managing to fire rocket attacks at Israeli civilians from concealed launchers among their own population in the region. Israelis in the coastal city spent hours in their bomb shelters as repeated missile attacks were sent whizzing towards their homes. At least two of the missiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system. Two others exploded in the Ashkelon coastal region, in open areas.

Residents of the dozens of communities along the Gaza border have spent hours and days in their bomb shelters, and Tuesday was no exception. Shelling and Qassam rocket attacks by midday were flying thick and fast, at one point landing every few minutes. Unperturbed, residents discussed the attacks with Israeli radio interviewers, noting they’d been through it all before. They said they were willing to wait it would for as long as it would take, just as long as the IDF would deal with it “once and for all this time.”

On the eve of the 22nd day of Operation Protective Edge, residents in the central Israeli coastal city of Rishon Lezion spent a sleepless night Monday, awakened suddenly at three in the morning by the wail of a Code Red rocket alert siren.

It had been a really tough day, with the loss of ten Israeli soldiers in Gaza operations, and the country was bone-tired. Israelis were tired.

Even though many homes are equipped with a ‘safe room’, it still required an effort to drag one’s self out of bed, and to rouse the children – or carry them sleeping – into the shelter, to safety, in 90 seconds or less.

Both of the M75 missiles fired from Gaza exploded on the outskirts of the city. Having presented no immediate threat to the population, neither was intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system. As a result, much of the city heard the resulting ‘booms!’

The third missile attack, aimed at Ashdod, was in fact aimed directly at the port city’s residential neighborhoods. That one was intercepted by the Iron Dome system, and shrapnel from the resulting explosion high above the city fell from skies a few seconds later.

Since nearly everyone was in bed or in their shelters at that hour, the risk of curious Israelis racing to examine or even take pieces of the shrapnel as a souvenir of the war, was thankfully minimized.

Meanwhile, Israel Defense Forces redoubled their attacks in Gaza overnight and into Tuesday morning, focusing heavy artillery fire and air strikes on the northern part of the region.

But reports by the IDF that 150 targets in Gaza were attacked over the past 24 hours are being challenged by retired IDF officials and analysts questioning their value. IAF fighter pilots bombed the home of Hamas Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, but it was empty at the time, with Haniyeh and his family safely tucked away elsewhere, far from the battle zone.

Retired National Security Council chief Maj.-Gen. (Res) Giora Eiland warned the Hebrew-language newspaper Yediot Acharonot on Tuesday the IDF needs to advance deeper into Gaza. “It is not going to be possible to reach a true cease fire within the coming days,” he said. “It is unwise to remain only in the areas we are in at the moment; in order to get significant achievements we need to go deeper in our operations,” he explained. “Attacking Haniyeh’s home is not important,” he added. “He could not care less.” Haniyeh told reporters in response to the report: “My house is not more valuable than the houses of other people. Destroying stones will not break our determination,” he said.

Overnight IAF fighter pilots attacked 10 terror operatives in central Gaza, confirming hits each time.

The IDF targeted more than 70 terror sites overnight throughout Gaza, including two sites used as command and control centers belonging to Hamas, four weapon storage sites concealed within mosques, a concealed rocket launcher located near a mosque and an offensive tunnel.

In the early hours of the morning, IDF demolished a full terror tunnel route and also struck the Gaza City office of the Hamas treasury — used to fund and manage Hamas’ terror activities.

In addition, the IDF struck the Al-Aqsa television station used to incite Palestinians against Israel. The station is also used to transmit orders and messages to Hamas operatives and instruct Gaza residents to ignore IDF warnings about upcoming military activity in specific areas, the IDF said. But despite the bombing, Hamas reported the channel has continued its broadcasts – an indication that its primary transmitters and studios remained unscathed.

At least several Israelis who were hoping that fewer attacks earlier in the day might mean the hope of a cease fire bitterly told a call-in show on Army Radio there “was no cease fire and never was” by Monday evening.

Just after 6:30 pm local time, Hamas unleashed a massive barrage of medium-range rocket fire aimed at Israel’s coastal cities.

The attacks were launched following one in which Gaza Belt communities were shelled in the Eshkol Regional Council district.

The surprise attack left four Israelis dead and at least nine others wounded – the first such deadly attack so far in the 21-day conflict – but none of the dead or wounded were residents of Eshkol.

Within the hour, Hamas began a barrage of rocket fire in which launches were barely three minutes apart.

Ashdod, Ashkelon and cities in between were all targeted, with Iron Dome anti-missile defense system operators busy at the controls. Three missiles were intercepted over Ashdod, with another shot down over Ofakim.

But then a massive barrage was unleashed, with Code Red alerts heard in all Gaza Belt communities and up along the Mediterranean coast as far north as northern Carmel.

Residents in Gedera, Zichron Ya’akov, Caesarea, and Hadera all were sent racing for shelter again, something they haven’t done in more than a week.

In the wake of the Eshkol shelling, the IDF has begun making phone calls and sent SMS text messages to the civilian population of Shejaiya, Zeitoun and eastern Jabalya. Residents in those areas were warned to immediately evacuate themselves towards the central area of Gaza City.

Israeli forces fired at the Beit Lahiyah area Monday morning in the wake of a missile attack on the northern outskirts of the coastal city of Ashkelon.

The launch by Hamas terrorists was – again – another in a series of violations of a humanitarian cease fire being observed by the Israel Defense Forces following a request by the United Nations.

The missile exploded in an open area in the city, according to IDF officials. No one was physically injured, and no property damage was reported.

But the issue of never knowing where the next missile will come from, or when, regardless of whether a so-called ‘cease fire’ has been agreed upon is one that must be addressed.

The IDF attacked 40 terror targets on Sunday, and two terrorist tunnels in the past 24 hours.

The issue of the tunnels is especially important, as that is a threat that cannot be addressed by the air force. Yet terrorists can launch missile attacks as well as other serious, mass casualty attacks against Israel from such tunnels, thereby making the destruction of that threat a primary mission for the IDF.

Nevertheless, President Barack Obama on Sunday strongly urged Israel to cooperate with an immediate humanitarian cease fire agreement cobbled together in Paris by Qatar and Turkey — both of whom clearly were there for Hamas — and Kerry, who may have had Israel’s interests in mind but whose interests were questionable at best, given the fact that in every phrase, the concerns of Palestinian Arabs are noted before those of Israelis.

The United Nations Security Council agreed on a draft statement calling for a cease fire between the terrorists in Gaza and Israel. The Council was to meet again in an emergency session at midnight, Sunday evening, July 27, east coast U.S. time — 7 am, Israel time.

Egyptian soldiers shot and killed a suicide bomber and blew up a vehicle loaded with Grad missiles, its military reported Wednesday.

The suicide bomber was wearing a vest loaded with explosives while approaching the Kerem Shalom crossing. The truck with missiles and launchers was on the Egyptian side of border near Gaza.

Since the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood government last year, Egypt has been at virtual war with hams, outlawing it as a terrorist organization.

As Israeli officials work to untangle the mess at Ben Gurion International Airport in the wake of an international ban on flights in and out of Tel Aviv, an ominous question is hanging over the Jewish State.

Did the United States allow Hamas terrorists to rule over Israel’s skies? Why would an “ally” do such a thing?

Although the FAA lifted its ban — which had to be approved by the White House — by midnight Wednesday, it still wasn’t clear whether airlines got the message. Worse, perhaps they had.

The damage incurred by an unprecedented 48-hour FAA ban on flights to Israel by U.S. carriers was incalculable, triggering a cascade of bans and possibly unparalleled damage to Israel’s economy.

The European Aviatian Safety Agency (EASA) “strongly recommended” its airlines avoid operating in and out of Tel Aviv.

Air France, Lufhansa, Germanwings, Austrian Airlines, Alitalia, Aeroflot and its associated airlines, and Turkish Airlines all suspended flights. Air Canada, generally a strong supporter of the Jewish State, also shied away.

Many still have not reinstated their flights. Those that have still have not established regular schedules. Ben Gurion airport is still a mess, with desperate travelers trying to figure out how to find their luggage and fix their ruined plans. Tracking down food, caring for children, getting enough sleep, changing clothes and dealing with hygiene needs — all of these issues were cast aside by many airlines after the first 24 hours, and by some from the very start, travelers told Israeli radio interviewers.

British Airways alone maintained its twice-daily flights to Ben Gurion International Airport from London Heathrow Airport.

Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu offered his gratitude and special thanks to British Foreign Minister Phillip Hammond on Thursday in a news briefing with media, noting that apparently Britain alone understood the importance of not handing a “free prize to Hamas terror.”

Fifteen minutes before midnight, the FAA lifted its flight restrictions on U.S. airline flights into and out of Ben Gurion airport “by cancelling a Notice to Airmen it renewed earlier today…

“Before making this decision, the FAA worked with its U.S. government counterparts to assess the security situation in Israel and carefully reviewed both significant new information and measures the Government of Israel is taking to mitigate potential risks to civil aviation,” the notice read.

The back step followed a hugely publicized flight to Israel by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who scorned the FAA moved as ridiculous. Bloomberg immediately boarded an El Al plane straight to Tel Aviv, declaring to reporters that Ben Gurion International Airport is the safest in the world. The prime minister greeted Bloomberg at the airport, thanking him for coming and calling him a friend and a “man of principle and truth.”

The Iron Dome team was busy again Thursday morning protecting metro Tel Aviv-Yafo (Jaffa).

It appears that Hamas terrorists are becoming increasingly frustrated and desperate as they fire large mid-range missiles barrages at the Mediterranean coast in attempts to wreak havoc on major Israeli cities.

Fewer long-range missiles have been launched at other cities around Israel, however.

A massive barrage of missiles was fired just before 11 am at the White City, with sirens screaming as far north as Herzliya. and explosions heard above greater Tel Aviv. At least five M75 missiles were intercepted over Rishon Lezion, according to Channel 10 television. No one was physically hurt and no damage was report.

Six missiles were intercepted over metropolitan Tel Aviv, the station reported.