NZ message to Israel - ‘we are extremely concerned’ about Palestinian civilians in Rafah

Christopher Luxon said Israel had moral and legal obligations to uphold. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the Government is extremely concerned about Israel’s actions in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and has conveyed its position to Israel - that its operation there should not proceed.

He said Israel had moral as well as legal obligations to uphold, comments that amount to his strongest remarks on Israel since the war began in October.

“Palestinian civilians cannot pay the price of Israel trying to defeat Hamas,” he told his post-Cabinet press conference.

“There are 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah at the moment. We are extremely concerned about that.”

He said Foreign Minister Winston Peters was conveying to the Israelis New Zealand’s position “that they do not proceed with operations in Rafah.”

Peters met Israeli ambassador Ran Yaakoby in the Beehive today - although the meeting had been pre-arranged and the ambassador was not “called in” by Peters.

Israel has begun air strikes on the city despite a plea from US President Joe Biden in a phone call to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing grave concern over the rising civilian death toll - put at 28,000 by the Gaza health ministry.

According to Reuters, Netanyahu’s office said it had ordered the military to develop a plan to evacuate Rafah and destroy four Hamas battalions it says are deployed there.

Luxon said New Zealand wanted to see a complete pause of hostilities.

“Israel has moral and legal obligations to uphold,” he said.

“It is important they act within the confines of international law and any approaches they have need to be very targeted, very precise, with great care around civilians and the impact on civilians.

“Peace is not going to come out of the Middle East through military action. It is going to come out through negotiation and through diplomacy and actually kicking off the two-state solution.

“We do not want to see Israel going into Rafah where there is 1.5 million civilians sitting there without making sure there are very clear steps to support and protect them.”

The strike on Rafah had already begun along with a special forces operation to free two Israeli hostages, and 37 people had been killed.

Israel’s offensive on Gaza is aimed at eliminating Hamas after a raid by the terrorist group into southern Israel on October 7, in which it killed 1200 people and took at least 250 hostage. Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas.

Peters posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) after his meeting with Ran Yaakoby and said they discussed the October 7 attacks by Hamas, developments on the ground in Israel and Gaza since then, how a lasting, peaceful outcome to the conflict might be found and the Israel-New Zealand relationship.