A worker begins the job of removing the paint today. Photo: RNZ / Lucy Xia
The outside of the US Consulate in downtown Auckland has once again been doused in red paint by pro-Palestinian protesters.
A group called Tāmaki for Palestine has claimed responsibility for the early morning act, and it is the second time in a month they have targeted the US Consulate on Customs Street.
It comes just days after thousands of Aucklanders marched along Queen Street to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza - culminating in groups taping photographs of Palestinian victims on the entrance to the US Consulate.
Tāmaki for Palestine said in a media statement that the red paint represented the blood of Palestinians being shed in the war in Gaza, and that it was protesting against US military and financial support to Israel in what it said was a genocide.
Tāmaki for Palestine has claimed responsibility for putting paint at the entrance of the US Consulate saying it represented the blood that Israel had spilled. Photo: RNZ / Lucy Xia
It condemned the US's recent vetoing of a resolution at the United Nations Security Council, demanding a humanitarian ceasefire.
It also said Foreign Minister Winston Peters' call for "steps towards" a ceasefire was "disappointingly moderate".
It has called on the government to expel the US and Israeli ambassadors from New Zealand.
Hamas fighters broke through Israel's borders on 7 October, killing 1200 people and taking 240 hostages.
The Hamas-run health ministry has said that Israel has killed more than 17,700 Gazans in its retaliatory campaign, including more than 7000 children.
The manager of the commercial building where the Auckland US Consulate is situated said while he is empathetic to what was happening in Gaza, the vandalism has unfairly affected other businesses in the building and the surrounding areas.
The police are making enquiries and have appealed for any footage of the incident.
