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Former New Zealand High Commissioner Phil Goff has never been one to shy away from calling a spade a spade, and his recent comments on Israel’s actions in Gaza are no exception to this rule. In a searing piece published on Stuff, Goff didn’t mince words, stating that Israel “doesn’t care how many innocent people it’s killing” in its relentless genocide.
But along comes the deluded Damien Grant, a largely irreverent journalist whose only claim to infamy is doing time for 34 convictions of credit card fraud and appearing on the now defunct Working Group podcast. Not content with shooting fireworks at his neighbours, Grant has scribbled a retort that Stuff has for some unknown reason chosen to publish, claiming the Gaza conflict is more "complicated” than Goff’s assessment.
Unfortunately for him, Grant’s attempt to make excuses for Israel and muddy the waters doesn’t hold up when you dig into the numbers and the reality on the ground.
Last week, Stuff reported:
Phil Goff: Israel doesn’t care how many innocent people it’s killing
This is not the once progressive pioneer Israel, led by people who had faced the Nazi Holocaust and were fighting for the right to a place where they could determine their own future and be safe.
Sadly, a country of people who were themselves long victims of oppression is now guilty of oppressing and committing genocide against others.
New Zealand recently joined 23 other countries calling out Israel and demanding a full supply of foreign aid be allowed into Gaza. Foreign Minister Winston Peters called Israel’s actions “ intolerable”. He said that we had “had enough and were running out of patience and hearing excuses”.
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Goff’s argument is rooted in grim statistics that paint a stark picture. The United Nations reports that over 14,000 babies in Gaza are currently suffering from severe acute malnutrition, with half a million people, a quarter of Gaza’s population, facing starvation due to Israel’s aid restrictions. The Gaza Health Ministry, as cited by Al Jazeera, estimates over 43,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since October 2023, with 70% of those being women and children. That’s roughly 30,100 non-combatants dead in a population of just 2.3 million. The UN also notes that 1.9 million Gazans, 83% of the population, are displaced, often multiple times, with nowhere safe to go.
Goff calls Israel’s partial lifting of the aid ban a “token effort,” and he’s not wrong. The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported in May 2025 that only 12% of required humanitarian aid reached Gaza in the first quarter of the year, despite international pressure. This isn’t complexity; it’s a deliberate stranglehold on basic necessities. Goff’s point is clear: Israel’s actions prioritise military objectives over civilian lives, a stance that aligns with reports from Haaretz, where Israeli soldiers themselves admit that outdated target lists lead to civilian deaths, with buildings struck repeatedly even after being identified as non-threatening.
Enter the Israeli apologist Damien Grant, who argues the conflict’s complexity excuses Israel’s actions. He suggests Goff oversimplifies a messy situation involving Hamas, regional politics, and Israel’s security needs. But Grant’s framing conveniently sidesteps the disproportionate toll on Palestinian civilians. He implies that Hamas’ presence justifies the scale of destruction, yet fails to mention that Israel’s own military data shows a failure to update target lists, directly endangering non-combatants.
The self-proclaimed Libertarian also ignores evidence from the Hind Rajab Foundation, which uses Israeli soldiers’ own social media footage to document war crimes, like the killing of a five-year-old girl and paramedics trying to save her. This isn’t “complicated”; it’s a pattern of impunity that is leading to a genocide of the Palestinian people.
Yesterday, Stuff reported:
The conflict in Gaza is more complicated than Phil Goff makes out, writes Damien Grant
Goff quotes the death toll, 54,000 killed, but neglects to mention that this is from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health. Now. This doesn’t mean that the figure is wrong, we have little other data to work with, but Hamas has done enough to allow us to question their credibility.
Hamas and its domestic allies committed horrendous crimes against civilians on October 7 and failed to keep many of their hostages alive, with credible evidence that some were killed in captivity.
Again. Reasonable people can question if the military response is proportionate, or will prove effective, but it is not reasonable to write, as Goff does, that: “Sadly, a country of people who were themselves long victims of oppression is now guilty of oppressing and committing genocide against others.”
The genocide claim is inflammatory. The assertion is often justified by reference to the Convention on Genocide’s expansive definition that includes “Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.”
Clearly Grant’s biased article leans heavily on Israel’s security narrative without acknowledging reports from Haaretz or the UN that highlight systemic issues in Israel’s military tactics, such as targeting civilian infrastructure. This selective framing undermines his claim of complexity. I mean Israel isn't exactly being complex when they bomb children in tents are they?
While Grant correctly notes the conflict’s multifaceted nature, his propaganda misrepresents the scale of civilian suffering and Israel’s documented war crimes, such as the humanitarian aid blockade. Statistics from the UN, Al Jazeera, and Haaretz, showing 43,000 deaths, 70% civilian, 1.9 million displaced, and severe malnutrition, support Goff’s critique over Grant’s dismissal. Grant’s failure to engage with these figures and his selective focus on Hamas’ actions render his analysis misleading and therefore largely irrelevant.
The befuddled insolvency practitioner's attempts to downplay the crisis also clashes with international findings. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Israeli leaders, citing “reasonable grounds” for war crimes, including the use of starvation as a weapon. Meanwhile, Grant’s claim that Hamas’ actions drive the conflict ignores that 65% of Gaza’s casualties are women and children, hardly the “combatants” he insinuates are causing the conflict. Like the BBC, Grant misreporting Palestinian combatants as civilians doesn’t negate the overwhelming data on civilian deaths.
Goff’s outspokenness cost him his diplomatic post, sacked by Foreign Minister Winston Peters for earlier comments on Trump. Yet, his willingness to call out Israel’s actions echoes the sentiment of 22 countries also condemning the aid ban.
Grant, by contrast, offers no substantive counter to the stats or the humanitarian toll. No ideas on how to initiate peace other than to wipe Hamas out. His “complexity” argument feels like a dodge, a way to avoid confronting the moral and legal failures laid bare by the numbers. It''s a similar position taken by the current coalition of chaos government. Where exactly is New Zealand's condemnation of the genocide in Gaza? Despite a
few platitudes and a bit of posturing, Winston Peters is once again
MIA. He obviously has no concern for Palestinian lives or peace negotiations, negotiations that Israel and the United States are making a mockery of.
The Gaza conflict isn’t a puzzle too intricate to solve. When 83% of a population is displaced, 30,100 non-combatants have been obliterated, and babies are starving to death, the numbers scream louder than any apologist’s prose. Goff’s right: silence is complicity. Grant’s wrong: complexity doesn’t absolve accountability. Maybe Damien Grant should just sit this one out. After all, it's better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you're a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.