Hi, everyone. It's 4 o'clock in New York. It is 11 p.m. in Israel, where a slow and steady

build-up of Israeli military forces is likely a prelude to a new stage of conflict with

incredibly high stakes for Israel, for the Palestinians, and for the United States and

the world. Air strikes in Gaza have intensified today ahead of a possible ground invasion intended

to crush Hamas. NBC's Ellison Barber captured this video of a steady stream of tanks about two

miles from the border with Gaza. US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, was in Israel today,

reiterating the United States decade-long and decades-long and steadfast commitment to Israel.

Here's what he had to say about the conflict ahead.

On the humanitarian situation in Gaza, I think it's first important to remember a fundamental

issue that makes this complicated. Hamas continues to use civilians as human shields.

Something that's not new, something that they've always done. Intentionally putting civilians

in harm's way to protect themselves or protect their infrastructure or protect their weapons.

So that's one of the basic facts that Israel has to deal with. And of course, civilians should

not be used in any way as the targets of military operations. They are not the target of Israel's

operations. Now the stakes of the fight against Hamas are underscored by the tragedy that

Israel has suffered. Secretary of State Blinken said that officials showed him photos and video

of people killed in the terrorist attack by Hamas. Take a listen to his reaction to what he saw.

It's beyond what anyone would ever want to imagine, much less actually see and God from

that experience. A baby, an infant, riddled with bullets. Soldiers beheaded.

Young people burned alive in their cars or in their highway rooms.

I could go on, but it's simply depravity in the worst, imaginable way.

It almost defies comprehension.

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