New Zealand To Deploy 6-Member Defence Team For Maritime Security In Red Sea

As part of an international coalition to boost maritime security in the Red Sea, New Zealand will be deploying a six-member defence group to the Middle East, PM Christopher Luxon mentioned on Tuesday. Britain and the United States have been sharing air strikes against the Iranian-led Houthi group in Yemen, who have been targeting civilian vessels in the Red Sea for weeks in what they say is a protest against Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

Houthi attacks launched against commercial as well as naval shipping are unlawful, unacceptable, and also profoundly destabilizing, Luxon mentioned during a media briefing. The deployment continues New Zealand’s history of defending freedom of navigation in the Middle East and closer to home.

The British and U.S. forces conducted a new round of strikes on Monday, targeting an underground Houthi storage site as well as surveillance and missile capabilities, the Pentagon mentioned. The Houthi attacks have reportedly disrupted worldwide shipping and stoked fears of global inflation. They have deepened concerns that fallout from the Israel-Hamas war would help destabilize the Middle East.

Zero New Zealand defence personnel will be entering Yemen or getting involved in combat but will contribute to the self-defence of vessels in the Middle East by international law, Luxon mentioned. Winston Peters, the Foreign Minister, said that New Zealand’s actions must not be conflated with its current position on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Any suggestion our ongoing support for maritime security in the Middle East is linked to the recent developments in the Gaza Strip and Israel is wrong, Peters stated. New Zealand has been calling for a humanitarian truce, humanitarian pauses, and the urgent need for further steps toward a ceasefire in Gaza.

Reference: Reuters

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Source: Maritime Shipping News