This handout satellite picture released by Maxar Technologies on 28 November 2023 shows the seized Isreali-linked Galaxy Leader ship that was captured by Houthi fighters on 19 November, next to a support vessel in the southern Red Sea near Hodeida, Yemen. Photo: AFP / Satellite image Maxar Technologies
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins have expressed New Zealand's support for strikes by the United States and United Kingdom against Houthi targets in Yemen.
New Zealand is among the 10 countries who signed a joint statement, backing the military strikes launched on Friday afternoon, over ongoing attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes.
Yemen's Houthis have been targeting vessels in the Red Sea since November to show their support for Hamas, prompting major shipping companies to take the longer and costlier route around the Africa's Cape of Good Hope rather than through the Suez Canal.
The Red Sea is the entry point for ships using the Suez Canal, which handles about 12 percent of global trade and vital for the movement of goods between Asia and Europe.
Peters said New Zealand was a trading nation which relied on international maritime law and the free flow of goods, and the Houthi actions affected the country's national security.
Both he and Collins said Friday's military strikes followed clear warnings.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins. Photo: RNZ / Tim Collins, Samuel Rillstone
"The Houthi attacks are illegal, unacceptable and profoundly destabilising. We and our partners have made repeated calls for them to stop," Peters said.
"These warnings have not been heeded. The Houthis have only stepped up their attacks, as we saw on 10 January with the launch of further drones and missiles at commercial shipping vessels."
Collins said the United Nations Security Council had also been clear on this issue, demanding the Houthis immediately cease their attacks.
"This is a good example of the international community uniting to address a serious threat to international security," she said.
In a statement signed by Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, the UK and US, it said the strikes were in accordance with the inherent right of individual and collective self-defence, consistent with the UN Charter.
The statement said the armed forces of the US and UK, with support from the Netherlands, Canada, Bahrain, and Australia, conducted joint strikes against a number of targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
The Houthis' attacks on commercial vessels since mid-November constituted an international challenge, the statement said.
"Today's action demonstrated a shared commitment to freedom of navigation, international commerce, and defending the lives of mariners from illegal and unjustifiable attacks.
"Our aim remains to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea, but let our message be clear: We will not hesitate to defend lives and protect the free flow of commerce in one of the world's most critical waterways in the face of continued threats."
- RNZ with Reuters