New Zealand's political opposition is leading an initiative to introduce a bill before Parliament aimed at imposing sanctions on Israel for its illegal occupation of Palestinian territories and brutal war crimes against the Palestinian people.

The new bill, spearheaded by the New Zealand Green Party, received support from all components of the country's parliamentary opposition, primarily the Labour and Maori parties, according to the Palestinian Information Center.

The proposed law reflects a significant development in New Zealand's political discourse on the Palestinian issue, with figures from other opposition parties seeking to push for a more balanced foreign policy that supports the rights of the Palestinian people and criticizes the double standards in international positions toward the Israeli occupation.

The Green Party is one of the most prominent political forces pushing for more explicit positions in support of Palestinian rights. The party has publicly condemned the Israeli aggression and called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

In recent years, New Zealand has witnessed a significant increase in the positions of opposition parties on the Palestinian issue. These parties have emerged as critical voices of Israel's violations in the occupied territories, particularly following the escalation of aggression against Gaza and the West Bank.

These positions gained momentum particularly after October 7, 2023, when some political parties took more assertive positions in condemning war crimes committed by Israel and called on the New Zealand government to take a more stringent stance against the Israeli occupation.

For her part, Green Party co-chairwoman and New Zealand MP Chloe Swarbrick said, “The bill (I proposed) was put to a vote by MPs in December of last year and has not yet been withdrawn from the vote.”

In an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, she explained that "Parliament's bylaws stipulate that a draft law can bypass a vote and move directly to the House of Representatives for discussion if it receives the support of 61 of the 123 members of Parliament."

She pointed out that "in light of the support shown by all 55 opposition party MPs for the bill, we only need six MPs from the government coalition parties to support it."

Regarding her expectations for the ruling parties' stance, Swarbrick said, "I know that there are MPs within the government who understand their responsibility to defend human rights. I also know that they have heard this very clearly from the citizens they represent."

She added, "We must not forget, in this regard, that our country voted in favor of a resolution at the United Nations calling on countries to impose sanctions on Israel for its occupation of Palestine. This bill, from this perspective, is the beginning of implementing this process."