The whānau of three New Zealand citizens, who some claim are being detained illegally in Israel, spoke to the media this morning in an emotional address alongside Green Party leaders seeking support.
Youssef Sammour, Rana Hamida, and Samuel Leason were on board the Global Sumud Flotilla, which organisers say was delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza when it was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters.
Youssef’s older sister, Samar Sammour, said her younger brother believes “love and courage can move the world” and that his decision to join the flotilla was motivated by the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
She is urging the New Zealand government to show “the moral courage that people like Youssef, like Rana, and like Samuel have shown in abundance.”
“I’m speaking to you, Christopher Luxon, I’m speaking to you, Winston Peters, today I am calling on you to act, not just with your words but with principle, with urgency, and with courage.
“My request are clear, I want the New Zealand government to do everything in its power to secure the immediate release of Youssef, Rana, and Samuel from their illegal detention.”
Samar also called for sanctions on Israel for consistently breaking international law.
“New Zealand, you must not continue to hide behind neutrality, as our citizens and our core human values are shamefully jeopardised and attacked in this way,” she said.
She ended with a message to her brother.
“We miss you, we surround you with all our love, please come home safe to us.”
‘Government failed all of us’
Heba Hamida, sister to Rana, said it was “impossible” not to see what was happening ot the Palestinian people and not try to help.
“They went to this mission to go deliver aid, food, baby formula for the people of Gaza.
“She was trying with her friends to do what our government should do. Government failed all of us.”
Heba claims Rena and her friends are currently on a hunger strike in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza.
She asked the government “to react and bring our loves home”.
‘Please keep the focus and the eyes of the country on them’
Father of Samuel, Adi Leason, told media the last thing his son asked of him was to make sure the spotlight was on Rana and Youssef, who are of Palestinian descent.
“When Palestinians come into Israeli jails, they suffer a great deal. Please keep the focus and the eyes of the country on them,” Samuel had told his father.
“I am very worried about Samuel as he sits in a cell right now, in a cage, cammed in with many other people.”
Adi’s main concern was his son’s disappointment at being unable to deliver the aid.
“I know his heart, I know my son, and his heart would be breaking because he failed, the ships didn’t land, and the supplies didn’t get through.”
According to his father, Samuel loved New Zealand but was ashamed of the country and its leaders.
“When faced with a choice of supporting the Palestinians in the middle of the genocide, in their starvation, in amongst all these war crimes, our government is choosing to support and offer comfort and legitimacy to the Zionist regime.”
He called for the government to cut ties and stop doing business with “this regime”.
Green Party co-party leader Chloe Swarbrick told the media that Kiwis are mad about what happened, but asked people to focus their frustration on elected representatives instead of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade (MFAT).
“Many of us have engaged directly with MFAT officials, and they are doing the best they possibly can inside the policy constraints that they currently have around them.
“It is our elected officials that are making decisions on how we represent ourselves as a country and the actions we undertake or do not.”
She continued to say New Zealand, alongside other countries, has a legal obligation to uphold the genocide convention and to stop it when it’s happening.
Swarbrick pointed to how fast the government acted when Russia started its invasion of Ukraine, making sure to sanction the country.
Last month, Foreign Minister Winston Peters told the United Nations General Assembly, New Zealand has declined to recognise the State of Palestine despite other countries recognising the state.
In a social media post this morning, Peters said the three individuals were told not to go.
“Now we have to spend all of our time and taxpayer money to solve their self-righteous self inflicted, petulant problems.
“Keep showing New Zealand why you should never be in Cabinet,” he wrote.
Chloe Swarbrick needs to grow up and get off her ‘holier than thou’ sanctimonious high horse.
— Winston Peters (@winstonpeters) October 5, 2025
No one wants to be lectured about ‘morals’ from someone who knows nothing about what’s going on around the world apart from her own arrogantly manufactured ideologically driven…
He also took a swing at Swarbrick in the same post, telling her to “get off her ‘holier than thou’ sanctimonious high horse.”
“No one wants to be lectured about ‘morals’ from someone who knows nothing about what’s going on around the world apart from her own arrogantly manufactured, ideologically driven political soundbites.
“The rest of us live in the real world and make real-world decisions based on facts - not made up from your leftwing hyperbole, faux moral outrage, incessant hand wringing, and exaggerated eye-rolling.
“And maybe Chloe, you should call out the protesters who decided to harass me, my household, and my neighbours with loud hailers at night - instead of standing next to one of them and letting her talk at today’s manufactured press conference. ”
