Protesters have assembled for pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the country, calling on the government to place sanctions on Israel for its war in Gaza.
This week the government announced it was considering whether to join other countries like France, Canada and Australia in recognising Palestinian statehood at a UN leader's meeting next month.
Demonstrators have taken to the streets in about 20 cities and towns, waving flags, holding vigils, and banging pots and pans to represent what a United Nations-backed food security agency has called "the worst case scenario of famine".
Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
In Wellington, about 2000 protesters gathered at Te Aro Park, and formed a crowd almost a kilometre long during the march, an RNZ journalist estimated.
One demonstrator, who carried a sign which read "Palestine is in our hearts", said the government had been "woefully silent" on what was happening in Gaza.
Pro Palestinian protesters gather in Wellington on 16 August 2025 as part of nationwide demonstrations. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
It was her first protest, she said, and she intended to go to others in order to "agitate for our politicians to listen and take a stand".
"I hope the country comes out in force today right across all of our regions, to give Palestine a voice, to show that we care, and to inspire action from our politicians - who have been woefully silent and as a result compliant in the genocide in Palestine."
She said she wanted to see the New Zealand government sanction Israel and take a global stand against the war in Gaza.
Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Another protester said the deaths of Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza this week was what had spurred him to join the crowd.
"You know hearing about the attack on the journalists, the way they were targeting just one purportedly but were willing to kill [others] just to get their man.
"It's not right."
Pro-Palestinian protesters gather in Wellington on 16 August 2025 as part of nationwide demonstrations. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Others in the capital carried signs showing Palestinian journalist Anas al-Sharif and his four Al Jazeera colleagues who were killed by an Israeli strike on a tent of reporters in Gaza.
The IDF claimed that al-Sharif was working for Hamas - something Al Jazeera has repeatedly denied.
Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Catch up on how it all unfolded with our blog.
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