Nehad Albattniji was busy with preparations for the opening of his Middle Eastern food business in Auckland when Newshub visited him.
The 38-year-old Palestinian Kiwi was doing everything from setting up the charcoal BBQ to organizing spices and painting areas of the food shop.
He proudly showed us photos of the food dishes he planned to create, from shawarma, falafel pitas, and shish kabobs.
"I love food," he told us, and it was clear he couldn't wait to share that love with his customers.
But amidst the excitement and stress of opening a new business, he was also feeling extra stress and worry for his family in Gaza.
"My dad is very sick, he's in a bed, he can't move," said Albattniji.
He said his elderly father suffered a stroke and was now bedridden in Gaza. Following the conflict, Albattniji's mother and father had been sharing a one-bedroom dwelling with more than 20 other people.
"People sleep in the kitchen or outside when the weather is warmer," said Albattniji.
Albattniji spent the first 24 years of his life on the Gaza Strip. He moved to New Zealand in 2010, where he got married and had three children.
But he's always been close to his family in Gaza and has visited them twice in the past three years.
Since October last year, Albattniji told Newshub that 77 of his loved ones had been killed.
"One of my uncles - he was in the house with his family - 43 people. So him and his kids and his wife and grandchild, all of the family, 43 people - all of them died," he said.
Albattniji wanted one of his brothers and his brother's wife and their children, who recently escaped Gaza, to come to New Zealand.
He said he helped pay for his brother and his brother's family to cross the border from Gaza to Egypt when the crossing was open. It could cost around NZ$8000 per person to arrange this border crossing.
Albattniji then applied for his brother and his brother's family to come to New Zealand on a visitor visa. It was declined.
Albattniji said he and his wife - who is a deputy principal at an Auckland school - could support the family when they arrived in New Zealand. The decline letter said his brother didn't provide enough evidence to show family ties to Gaza and there was a concern he wouldn't return home once the visa expired.
Albattniji was still confused as to why the visa was declined.
"There's lots of people - they're coming from everywhere as a visitor visa or a working holiday visa," he said.
"Every time he [his brother] calls me and says 'what's happened, what's going on, any news, any update', I just have to say 'sorry we're waiting'. It's very hard, we cry for them all the time."
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In May, Newshub covered the story of Palestinian Kiwi Ahmed Abusaleeq. The 24-year-old was born in Gaza but is now studying medicine in Wellington.
He applied for a visitor visa for his mother who is in Gaza. It was declined.
Immigration New Zealand told Ahmed in the application there was "limited evidence provided to show any financial, social or family ties" to Ahmed's mother's home country.
"I think what they're trying to say is that, you know, you don't own houses in Gaza - you're not going to go back because it's a conflict zone," he told Newshub at the time.
"The question is why would she want to go back to Gaza? Why can't this Government create new visa pathways? So there's seven children of my mum's living in New Zealand who have ties to her. I think that's more than enough of a reason to have the visa application approved."
As of June 20, Immigration New Zealand received 23 visa applications from people who were in Gaza when they applied or had been there shortly before.
Of those 23 applications, eight were approved, nine were declined, and six are under assessment.
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said the majority of those who had their visas declined had no connections to New Zealand.
Newshub asked her if the Government would be introducing a special humanitarian visa for people in Gaza who have family ties to New Zealand. Stanford said that is a decision for Cabinet to make.
"There are many conflict zones around the world underway at the moment. We have to look at every individual case in the context that it's in," she said.
Nehad said his heart breaks for his brother who is stuck in limbo in Egypt and his brother's children who can't go to school as they have no legal status there.
"Nobody can take care of him in Egypt. I can look after them here."
