New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has declared he was “proud” the country made its own independent call not to recognise Palestine.

His comments come despite pressure from NZ Labour and the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, and a flurry of other nations - including Australia - recognising Palestine.

New Zealand announced at the United Nations it would not prematurely recognise Palestine but continued to advocate for a two-state solution.

“(Recognising Palestine) is a matter of when, not if, but it’s just not now,” Mr Luxon told Radio NZ Wellington on Monday.

“I think we can be proud of (that decision) because we’ve made our own independent decision and assessment of it.”

He said the NZ government could not recognise Palestine while terrorist group Hamas remained in contr

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