Earlier, it was reported a barrage of Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip crushed multiple residential buildings and buried families under rubble, as health officials in the besieged territory reported hundreds killed in the past day and the closure of medical facilities because of bomb damage and a lack of power.
Maor described October 7 as “one of the most horrific days in the history of Israel”.
“Fourteen-hundred people murdered in one day. Civilians, women, children, babies,” he said. “I don’t want to recount the horrific stories because I can’t do it without breaking down.
“To make matters tougher has been the response and the way the community around New Zealand and Australia seem to have been understanding what’s going on in the conflict.
“There are still 200 people held hostage, and at the same time in the city that I’ve called home for the past five years, there’s people marching the streets with swastikas.”
In February, Maor told the Herald he preferred not to talk about his military experiences, but the army was “a significant part of who I am”.
“Three years is mandatory, and I went to officer training and became an Air Force first lieutenant.
“I was a very lackadaisical kid, got into trouble, skirted around the edges. The military was my first experience in a high-performance environment, a place where you have to be great at what you do.
“The stakes are high. There’s a demand for excellence and detail, from how you shine your shoes to preparing for missions. Being an officer is a lot like coaching… you need to bring them together as a group, to care for each other, and perform when the stakes are highest. There were also tactical and strategic decisions, which I love.”
The soaring death toll from Israel’s escalating bombardment is unprecedented in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It augurs an even greater loss of life in Gaza once Israeli forces backed by tanks and artillery launch an expected ground offensive.
Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been running out of food, water and medicine since Israel sealed off the territory following the devastating attack by Hamas on towns in southern Israel.
Israel said it had launched 400 airstrikes over the past day, killing Hamas commanders, hitting militants as they were preparing to launch rockets into Israel and striking command centres and a Hamas tunnel shaft. Israel reported 320 strikes the day before.
