NZ officials were advising on Gaza ceasefire in November, warning ‘thousands’ of children had been killed

Officials did not recommend a unilateral call for a ceasefire. Photo / The New York Times

A little over a month after the October 7 attacks on Israel, MFAT officials began advising the Government on calls for a ceasefire in the conflict.

The advice, which has been released to the Herald under the Official Information Act, began flowing to the former Government on November 18. The Government was then acting in caretaker mode as coalition negotiations between the parties that form the current government dragged on.

The advice is heavily redacted. It presents multiple options for what the Government could do in response to increasing calls for an immediate ceasefire. Only one option was unredacted, which is a recommendation from officials to sign on to a joint statement from the leaders of Canada, Justin Trudeau and Australia, Anthony Albanese pushing for movement towards a “sustainable ceasefire”. This is what the new Government eventually did. The statement was released by the leaders of the three countries on December 13, some time after the advice was first received.

This was the preferred option of officials. That statement saw Prime Minister Christopher Luxon say he wanted a humanitarian pause continued and efforts made towards a “sustainable ceasefire”.

“We want to see this pause resumed and support urgent international efforts towards a sustainable ceasefire. This cannot be one-sided. Hamas must release all hostages, stop using Palestinian civilians as human shields, and lay down its arms.

“There is no role for Hamas in the future governance of Gaza.

“We support Palestinians’ right to self-determination. We oppose the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, the re-occupation of Gaza, any reduction in territory, and any use of siege or blockade,” the statement said.

The Herald understands that one of the options in the paper that was redacted was a more blunt call for a ceasefire, without some of the caveats included in the joint statement. This option was roughly what the Labour Party elected to do, making a statement as a political party, rather than as the Government.

The then Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins called for a ceasefire the day after receiving advice from officials. He opted to say little about the advice he had been receiving at the time, given the sensitivity of his role as caretaker Prime Minister.

“We are urgently calling for a ceasefire. Israel and Hamas need to immediately ensure the conditions for a ceasefire are met and to commit to a lasting peace in the region.

“All parties need to act in accordance with international law and protect civilians. While we recognise the right to self-defence, we are particularly concerned that the actions of the Israeli Defence Force are disproportionate and indiscriminate.

“We also urge Hamas to release all hostages immediately and without condition and to be part of the process to work towards peace,” Hipkins said at the time.

At the time, Luxon defended not calling for an immediate ceasefire.

“Obviously we all want to see a ceasefire happen in Gaza, but actually there are steps in order for that to happen, because for a ceasefire to take place there are certain conditions. You actually have to have both sides wanting to do it... it actually covers the whole geographic area and importantly you’ve got to put yourself into a process to actually get back into the Middle’s peace process,” Luxon said.

National’s Foreign Affairs spokesman Gerry Brownlee told RNZ in November that the incoming Government had asked the caretaker Government for advice on changing the language New Zealand had been using regarding ceasefires. This request was made on November 17, the day before the paper outlining options.

The MFAT paper told officials that the “humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate with death tolls amongst Palestinians now over 11,000, including thousands of children, increasing shortages of food, water and fuel, and concerning reports of attacks on medical facilities in Gaza, resulting in casualties among medical and humanitarian personnel”.

“Public calls for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas are growing accordingly, including in New Zealand. With conditions on the ground nowhere near what a ceasefire [as defined by the UN] would require, these calls seem only to reflect a desire to stop the humanitarian catastrophe and the killing of civilians at this stage.

“A large number of countries worldwide have voiced their support for a ceasefire. Among Western European countries, Spain, Ireland, Norway, Iceland, and Belgium have called for a ceasefire. France and Australia are increasingly referencing the concept of a ceasefire in their public statements. The US has repeatedly rejected that idea.

“New Zealand supports the goal of a ceasefire. we have called for steps towards a ceasefire,” officials said.

Officials warned the term “ceasefire” was being used differently by politicians and civil society, leading to some confusion.

Like Luxon, they warned that a key barrier to a ceasefire in the conflict was that neither side seemed to want it.

A ceasefire “is intended to be long-term and often covers the entire geographic area of the conflict. Its aim is usually to allow parties to engage in dialogue, including the possibility of reaching a permanent political settlement. Critically, ceasefires only take place when both... parties to a conflict agree, usually on the basis that key demands set by both sides are met”.

Officials said the “conditions for a formal ceasefire described in language developed by the UN do not currently exist”.

“There are two immediate challenges with calls for a ceasefire: the parties to the conflict do not want it [REDACTED] complicated further by the complete lack of trust between the parties,” they said.

Officials advised the Government stress the ceasefire could not be one-sided.

They warned that civilians “no longer have viable options to flee the fighting to areas of safety” and that “[s]afe, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access in Gaza has become impossible to maintain”.

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.