IDF Lt. Colonel (reserve) Jonathan Conricus provides his eighth daily update on the status of the Hamas/Israel war a few hours ago. The video is below. In advance of the apparent ground incursion for which the IDF has massed at the border of the Gaza Strip, Hamas seeks to prevent the evacuation of Arab civilians. Hamas wants them in place so that they can star as casualties in the media. He cautiously breaks down one incident and urges that information emanating from Gaza be treated with skepticism.

At the end of the MSNBC clip below Conricus discusses the personal impact of events on his friends and family: “We want to live in peace but the situation here has become untenable and we intend to change it for a long, long time ahead.”