Immigration New Zealand's response to the conflict between Hamas and Israel

New Zealand is gravely concerned by the impact of this conflict on civilians. The loss of life is appalling. The Government is continuing to monitor the situation closely, along with our partners.

Immigration New Zealand's response

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) understands the difficult situation this crisis is causing for many and has great sympathy for those separated from their loved ones during this stressful time.

The primary way New Zealand provides support for international refugee situations is through the Refugee Quota, with an annual quota of 1500 people per annum.

Refugees accepted through the Refugee Quota are referred to us by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Since the conflict between Israel and Hamas started, we have put in place processes to ensure consistency and priority allocation for any applications received for people living in these locations. These processes include:

• Processing all visitor visa general applications from Palestinian and Israeli passport holders in the same office.
• Setting up a dedicated INZ mailbox for applicants to use to request prioritisation of applications.

The New Zealand Embassy in Cairo continues to petition the Israeli and Egyptian governments for valid New Zealand visa holders to be permitted to leave Gaza.

We will continue to prioritise and process applications for people impacted by the conflict.

INZ's response as at 2 December 2025

Since 7 October 2023, we have received:

• 1,571 applications from Israeli nationals across both temporary and resident visa applications. Of those received, 1,375 have been approved, 65 declined, 87 in progress and the remainder have been withdrawn.
• 465 applications from Palestinian passport holders across both temporary and resident visa applications. Of those received, 307 have been approved, 93 declined, 52 are in progress and the remainder have been withdrawn.

Of the approved applications, 809 Israeli nationals and 129 Palestinians have arrived in New Zealand. These include all visa types.

New Zealand response 

New Zealand has announced 8 tranches of support to the humanitarian response, totalling NZD $50.5 million. This is to address urgent humanitarian needs in response to the Israel-Hamas conflict. 

This includes contributions of:

• NZD $20.5 million to the World Food Programme (WFP)
• NZD $14 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
• NZD $7 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
• NZD $2 million to the United Nations 2720 Mechanism for Gaza
• NZD $6 million to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), and
• NZD $1 million to the Office of the Quartet.

New Zealand has also provided a NZD $1 million contribution to support UNICEF's response to humanitarian need in Lebanon, with a focus on the following for affected Lebanese communities:

• health and nutrition
• child protection
• education, and
• water, sanitation and hygiene.

This funding was announced in September 2024 following an escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. 

Information on New Zealand’s response to the Israel and Hamas conflict can be found on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's website.

Israel-Hamas Conflict — Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Where New Zealand has previously created new visa pathways for certain conflicts, these have been in response to specific and different circumstances.

Afghanistan was a situation where unique circumstances required a targeted approach as Afghan nationals were at risk of harm due to their previous work and connections with the New Zealand Defence Force and other agencies in Afghanistan.

Ukraine was an unusual situation given the fact that the UNHCR was unable to refer people from Ukraine to New Zealand through INZ’s refugee quota, which meant there were limited pathways for Ukrainian refugees.

Decisions on changes to immigration policy settings are decided by the Government.