New Zealand to make decision on Palestine in September
Peters said Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's cabinet would make a formal decision next month and present the government's approach at the UN Leaders' Week in New York in late September.
Several countries including Australia, Britain and Canada have announced in recent weeks that they will recognise a Palestinian state at September's UN General Assembly.
Peters said while some of the country's close partners had opted to recognise a Palestinian state, New Zealand had an independent foreign policy.
"We intend to weigh up the issue carefully and then act according to New Zealand's principles, values and national interest," he said in a statement.
The government needed to weigh up whether sufficient progress was being made towards the Palestinian territories becoming a viable and legitimate state for New Zealand to grant recognition.
"New Zealand has been clear for some time that our recognition of a Palestinian state is a matter of when, not if," Peters added.
New Zealand has previously called for an end to violence in Gaza and steps toward a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestine territories.
with AAP
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