Israel Hamas war: Large crowd expected in Auckland CBD in continued calls for ceasefire

Hoards of people are expected to flock to the Auckland CBD this afternoon to continue their calls for a ceasefire during the Israel-Hamas war.

The rally is due to begin at 2pm in Aotea Square before the group marches along Queen St towards the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office.

Posters for the protest describe it as the “biggest for Palestine in NZ history.

“Bring your keffiyehs, flags, whānau, friends, kids, neighbours, workmates, banners and posters,” a post by the Palestinian Youth Aotearoa group to social media read.

With the war now in its third month, the Palestinian death toll in Gaza has surpassed 17,400, the majority women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.

Most recently, Israeli warplanes struck parts of the Gaza Strip in relentless bombardment, hitting some of the dwindling bits of land it had told Palestinians to evacuate to in the south.

The strikes came a day after the United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, despite its wide support.

Gaza residents “are being told to move like human pinballs — ricocheting between ever-smaller slivers of the south, without any of the basics for survival,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the council before the vote.

Guterres said Gaza was at a “breaking point” with the humanitarian support system at risk of collapse, and that he feared “the consequences could be devastating for the security of the entire region.”

Earlier this week, a senior Labour MP accused Israel of carrying out genocide in Gaza in a heated Parliamentary debate regarding Government support for a ceasefire during question times.

Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters put forward a motion calling on all parties involved in the conflict – including countries with influence in the region – to “take urgent steps towards establishing a ceasefire”.

The motion was supported by all parties but debate drew some heated discussion and proposed amendments from the Green Party and Labour that it better recognised the loss of lives, including over 16,000 in Palestine and about 1200 in Israel, and called for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire” rather than “steps towards” one.

Labour’s associate foreign affairs spokesman Damien O’Connor said what was happening in Gaza was “nothing more than a genocide”.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked a rarely used article of the UN charter described as the most powerful tool he has, to warn of the “severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza” and urged the Security Council to intervene.

It is the first time this power has been used since Guterres became Secretary-General in 2017.

Rachel Maher is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. She has worked for the Herald since 2022.

– Additional reporting by AP