Kiwi voices needed: We want to hear from New Zealanders on Gaza, writes Keith Lynch, Editor-in-Chief

Wednesday, 30 July 2025

Why did the war begin, and what toll is it taking?

Over the coming weeks, Stuff is inviting readers to submit their reflections on the crisis in Gaza. We will publish a selection. You can read Editor-in-Chief Keith Lynch’s Op-ed below and follow our reporting from Gaza here.

Update: Thank you all for your response to this. We’ve had hundreds of submissions already and will hopefully begin to publish some of the replies tomorrow (Thursday).

On July 22, New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters issued the following statement.

We continue to be confronted by horrifying scenes playing out in Gaza.

We have the horror of innocent Israeli families, robbed of their loved ones in October 2023 by Hamas’ heinous and immoral hostage taking, still yearning and demanding for them to be freed.

And we have the horror of more and more innocent Palestinian civilians starving, being deprived of their basic needs, and being killed every day – because Israel’s military response to the events of October 7 2023 long ago ceased to be proportionate, reasonable or moral; and because Hamas continues to act with complete disregard for civilian life.

The international community is united in its revulsion to what is happening in Gaza. This horror must end. Too many lives have been lost. Too many people have been traumatised, polarised and embittered – ensuring that yet another generation of Israeli and Palestinian children are born into a situation of insufferable conflict and enmity.

That is why New Zealand has come together with Foreign Ministers from 27 other countries to state as clearly as we can that enough is enough. That this war must end now. That this suffering is intolerable.

Naima Abu Ful, with her 2-year-old child, Yazan, at their home in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City.

Since then the situation has only worsened with starvation and hunger in Gaza.

On Sunday, Stuff published a story about a child who starved to death weighing less than when she was born. What is happening in Gaza is intolerable. This is a story we cannot ignore.

And yet, we know much of New Zealand scrolls past these headlines or images.

As I wrote earlier this year when Stuff started running a series where each day we publish one photo from on the ground in Gaza, the suffering can feel other worldly and the politics can be utterly exhausting.

At Stuff, we have primarily relied on straight news reporting from reputable sources such as AP and The Washington Post.

But we want to try something different. New Zealand can be a small, parochial place. But this also means that we value other Kiwi voices.

So this week, we’re asking you, our readers, to share your perspectives and reflections on the conflict in Gaza. And to be very clear, we are not going to publish Op-eds defending bombing civilians or taking hostages.

We’ll publish a selection of the most thoughtful, the most uniquely Kiwi perspectives on the crisis to enable a better conversation here at home.

You can email me directly at keith.lynch@stuff.co.nz, cc-ing in newstips@stuff.co.nz. Please keep your submissions below 600 words and clearly state your occupation and any other pertinent facts.

You can also read Stuff reporter Glenn McConnell’s explanation of New Zealand’s current approach to Gaza here and watch Paula Penfold’s video explaining the situation above.