Christchurch's Mahmoud Abu Hussein is reading a letter messaged to him from his late brother's four young children in Gaza.
"We lost our dad and mum, our home and safety," the children wrote.
Mahmoud said his brother was killed after his home was bombed in Gaza while he said his brother's wife died on the street during an air strike.
Their four children - 10-year-old twin girls, a seven-year-old and a six-year-old - have now been left orphaned.
"It's going to take years for them to absorb losing a father and mother in the blink of an eye," said their cousin John Abu Hussein who also lives in Christchurch.
The children are currently in Egypt after their family members around the world paid thousands of dollars to a private company to get them across the Rafah crossing when it was open.
"They have no rights in Egypt but we thought this is the safest spot that we can get them to," John told Newshub.
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Mahmoud and John want to bring the four children to New Zealand.
Members of the Abu Hussein family have lived in Christchurch for almost 30 years and say they can support the four young children to start a new life in New Zealand.
But getting a visa for them could be challenging.
Minister of Immigration Erica Stanford said visitor visas have been granted to Palestinians who are immediate family members (partners and children) of New Zealand citizens and residents.
"The situation in Gaza is a humanitarian crisis that is constantly evolving," she said.
"However at a high level, INZ [Immigration New Zealand] advises me that they are issuing visitor visas to immediate family of Palestinian New Zealanders because it is the fastest visa to process and the quickest way to bring people into the country.
"Once children and partners are in New Zealand, they can apply for student and partner work visas."
The family of the four children who want to come to New Zealand have spoken to an MP about the process of applying for visas for them.
Given they are nieces and nephew of their Christchurch uncle, they don't fall into the category of 'children' or 'partner' so it's unclear what the outcome of any visa application would be.
Palestinian Kiwis and Labour's immigration spokesperson Phil Twyford are calling on the Government to introduce a special visa pathway for people in Gaza who have family links to New Zealand.
"I honestly don't know why the Government is being so tentative about this. They should just create a visa, make it available and then use every diplomatic means possible to get these people across the border," said Twyford.
"Both with Ukraine and with Afghanistan, the former Labour Government pulled out all the stops.
"In the case of Afghanistan we sent Air Force planes to Kabul to uplift people. We brought 1700 people from Afghanistan to resettle in New Zealand.
"In the case of Ukraine we created a special visa for the family members of Ukrainian Kiwis to escape the war zone and take shelter in New Zealand and several hundred took that up."
Twyford acknowledged it would be difficult for the New Zealand Defence Force to do the same in Gaza.
However, he said some Palestinian Kiwis have paid private firms to enable their family members to cross the border into Egypt.
"I don't know what is holding the Minister back. She said she didn't want to give false hope. But to be honest that's terribly patronising.
"These people know exactly what is going on. They understand the risks. They know it's tough to get out people but actually some people have got out in the last few months.
"My message to the Minister is get off the fence. Do the right thing for the Kiwi-Palestinian community and allow them to bring their families here," he added.
"New Zealand is a leader country in humanitarian support. I don't think it should be a big problem for the New Zealand Government to issue support for this situation because history proves that it's already been done before. If these kids go back to Gaza they could be killed," said John Abu Hussein.
"I totally understand there is regulation but the New Zealand Government is able to make some special categories to be accommodating to these types of human situations," he added.
The Minister of Immigration said any decision to introduce a temporary resident pathway or other visa for extended family members in Gaza is a decision for Cabinet.
