The Wire with Oto

International pressure is mounting against Israel for the 11-week-long and ongoing blockade of aid into Gaza.

The few aid trucks that have been let into Gaza have not been distributed, according to the United Nations.

It comes as cases against Israel in the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court (ICC) for existing violations of international law remain ongoing.

Wire Host Caeden spoke to Professor Donald Rothwell from the Australian National University Law School about the aid blockade and response in international law.

The United Nations recently received permission from Israel for 100 more emergency aid trucks to enter Gaza, after International humanitarian experts warned of looming famine due to Israel’s renewed blockade of the strip since March.

On Monday this week, Israel cleared nine trucks of goods to enter Gaza, however, only five of those trucks actually entered Gaza and haven’t distributed their aid yet.

However, even if all nine of those trucks were to enter Gaza, that still wouldn’t be nearly enough to attend to the needs of the strip’s 2.1 million population, 47% of whom are children under the age of 18.

Oto spoke to Maher Nazzal from the Palestinian Forum of New Zealand about why the clearance of aid trucks into Gaza isn’t enough, and the additional steps that the New Zealand government could take to put pressure on Israel.

Disclaimer: As of the 21st of May, 2025, Israel claims that 93 trucks had entered into the Gaza Strip, however, aid is yet to be delivered.

This week it was announced that a visualisation tool was being developed, which would help young people with cancer who are undergoing radiotherapy.

The visualisation tool is being developed by Dr. Annie Jones, a Research fellow in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland. Dr. Jones said that “stress can affect the way our body responds to treatment”, and that “if we can reduce people’s anxiety, that should have positive benefits for their physical recovery as well.”

The visualisation will provide clear information for children, as well as their families and friends, about how radiotherapy works. While making it clear that it’s normal to feel worried and offering coping strategies.

To talk about this, Producer Max spoke with Dr. Annie Jones.

For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March, Oto spoke to him about the suspension of three Te Pati Maori MPs, The Waitangi Tribunal's recommendation to halt the regulatory standards bill and the impact of the social security amendment bill on beneficiaries.

He spoke to Dr Claire Achmad, Chief Children’s Commissioner about New Zealand ranking 32nd out of 36 countries for child wellbeing in UNICEF’s recent childwellbeing report.

And he spoke to Maher Nazzal from the Palestine Forum of New Zealand about how the recent clearance to bring aid trucks into Gaza won’t be enough to address the needs of affected Palestinians

Max spoke to Dr Annie Jones, a Research fellow in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland, to talk about a new visualisation tool that is being developed for children during cancer treatment.

And he spoke to Dr Denis Odlin, of the Management and International Business Department at the University of Auckland, about the potential for New Zealand to take advantage of the new space economy.