KEY POINTS:
Defence Minister Phil Goff has visited New Zealand troops serving on the border of the Gaza Strip.
The New Zealanders were at North Camp on the Sinai Peninsula.
Mr Goff said they were some of the more than 400 New Zealand Defence Force personnel who were serving overseas this Christmas.
He said the North Camp contingent, 21 men and five women from all three services, were involved in training and advisory work, engineering, and driving.
Mr Goff said security conditions in the region had deteriorated in the past two years, with two suicide bomber attacks on MFO personnel and another bombing, as well as tourist attacks on tourist resorts in the Red Sea.
The soldiers now used armoured vehicles and full kit when outside the camp, he said.
On a lighter note, Mr Goff said contingent had won first prize in the Force Skills Competition in the Sinai, despite being one of the smaller groups within the 1600-strong Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) force based there.
They also won the Colombian Death March competition which involved a 42km march, fully-kitted in the desert heat, beating the Colombian force which came second.
- NZPA
