Government has extended controversial deployment after saying troops would be home at the end of July

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, flanked by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Defence Minister Judith Collins announcing the deployment in February. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Government has extended a controversial deployment of six Defence Force personnel to a US-led effort to against Houthi rebels, who have been attacking Middle East shipping lanes.

The deployment was announced in February after Houthis stepped up their attacks in response to Israel’s invasion of Gaza. The deployment is such that the Government has not publicly acknowledged the country in which the forces are based, beyond saying they are “deployed in coalition headquarters”.

In February, when asked about the potential for mission creep, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon twice said the deployment would end “no later than 31 July this year”.

“Our commitment is to July 31 this year,” he said. Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today the deployment would have its mandate extended to January 31 next year.

“The decision to extend this deployment is reflective of the continued need to partner and act in line with New Zealand’s values, something we have done regularly in support of Middle East maritime security,” Collins said.

“Our deployed personnel have done an exceptional job and developed excellent experience alongside our coalition partners,” she said.

Peters said the extension “demonstrates our support to the international rules-based system and freedom of navigation”.

New Zealand has contributed to international efforts to improve maritime security in the Middle East since the mid-1990s. There are currently up to 26 NZDF personnel deployed to various coalitions and commands in the region

Otago University Professor Robert Patman told the Herald he was concerned the Government was treating the “symptoms” of conflict rather than the causes, and said New Zealand risked looking inconsistent if it contributed to efforts to uphold international law against the Houthis in the Red Sea without devoting equal attention to upholding international law in Gaza.

“There is a linkage between the situation in the Red Sea, which New Zealand is trying to counter, and the triggering factor in Gaza, where unfortunately more than 38,000 Palestinians and 1200 Israelis have died largely as a result of war crimes,” Patman said.

“It means New Zealand is compartmentalising the importance of the rule of law in the Red Sea and not in Gaza,” he said.

Patman said the Government needed to “be sensitive” to the sense that it is falling into the American camp.

Labour criticised the deployment earlier this year.

Labour’s Foreign Affairs spokesman David Parker said there was no UN mandate for the strikes, and a number of like-minded countries, particularly in Europe have steered clear of joining the US-led campaign.

“There’s no UN mandate ... It’s telling that a large number of European countries including the Scandinavians are staying out of this,” Parker said.

Thomas Coughlan is Deputy Political Editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.