Israel have agreed to 4 hour pause of violence each day, essentially saying they will still kill Palestinians for 20 hours a day.

If President Joe Biden is going to rule out a ceasefire but take credit for negotiating a pause, then he must also take responsibility for what happens when the violence resumes each day.

“Every child killed today would still be alive if there was a ceasefire yesterday.”

Every leader who has refused to call for a ceasefire has blood on their hands.

Israel’s agreement for a daily pause isn’t entirely meaningless, however. It shows that the power of global solidarity and pressure from the ground is starting to get to them. Now we must ramp up our collective efforts. The protests, the boycotts must continue. We cannot let those who profit from war have peace until Gaza is free.

It is unconscionable for Aotearoa’s political leaders to continue to ignore the targeted atrocities that have killed thousands children.

Aotearoa can no longer maintain diplomatic relations with governments who are actively committing war crimes. We must recall the NZ consulate from Israel immediately.

Te Pāti Māori will be pressuring the incoming Government to introduce an Israel Sanctions Bill to Parliament and send a clear message that Aotearoa will not tolerate ethnic cleansing and genocide. Just as we did in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we need to impose economic sanctions targeting specific people, and companies, assets and services involved with Israel’s illegal war of aggression.

We are once again calling on Aotearoa to do all we can to prevent the killing of innocent children and end the occupation of Palestine.

© Scoop Media