Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has publicly backed calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying New Zealand must “work to uphold international law and human rights”. 

Her statement comes after Whanau directed council staff not to remove a pro-Palestine artwork on a public mural space in Waitangi Park. 

The large mural painted in red on a wall at the outskirts of the park reads “Ceasefire now” in block letters. 

“As a member of the Mayors Network for Peace, I support the call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza accompanied by the release of hostages,” Whanau told NZME. 

“New Zealand must work to uphold international law and human rights and stop attacks on innocent civilians.” 

Whanau said on Instagram the mural is “a message of peace” and should not be removed. 

“Yesterday, unfortunately, another mural calling for a Free Palestine was removed by council officers from the same spot.” 

She said art helps people to “digest unimaginable harm and things that we may struggle to comprehend”. 

“It can be confronting, uncomfortable, difficult, a call for peace or a stamp of the heartache of a city”. 

She said murals should only be painted over if they incite hate or are inappropriate for children. 

Whanau is the latest official to call for a ceasefire in Gaza which has been under fire from Israel since October 7, when Palestinian militant group Hamas orchestrated a series of coordinated attacks on bordering areas of Israel, killing more than 1200 people - mostly civilians. 

Israel’s subsequent strikes of retaliation have killed more than 11,000 people - mostly children. The figure has surpassed the total amount of Palestinian deaths in the last 15 years of conflict with Israel and with more than 2000 people missing in Gaza it is likely to be higher. 

The Israeli Defence Force has defended its decision to carry out missile strikes on hospitals by claiming that Hamas has built a series of sprawling tunnels under major infrastructure - such as Gaza’s largest hospital al-Sifa and is using civilians as “human shields”. 

Human shields were “a key pillar of Hamas’s terror operations”, The Times of Israel quoted Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari as saying. Israel has, however, not provided concrete proof for its allegations. 

Israel also issued an order for 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza City to flee to the south of Gaza within 24 hours - an impossible order to follow for many. 

Once Palestinians did flee, Israeli forces targeted the safe route out of the city with airstrikes, killing at least 70 who were fleeing. 

In October more than 800 scholars and law practitioners wrote a public statement calling what is happening in Gaza a genocide. 

“We are compelled to sound the alarm about the possibility of the crime of genocide being perpetrated by Israeli forces against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” they wrote. 

“We do not do so lightly, recognising the weight of this crime, but the gravity of the current situation demands it.” 

Protests both for Palestine and for Israel have been attended by thousands globally, including in New Zealand. 

Vita Molyneux is a Wellington-based journalist who covers breaking news and stories from the capital. She has been a journalist since 2018 and joined the Herald in 2021.