Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has warned against retaliatory action in the aftermath of Iran’s strikes on Israel overnight, saying “maximum restraint and diplomatic solutions are essential”.

Iran early on Wednesday morning (NZ Time) shot nearly 200 projectiles at Israel, the latest escalation in the spiralling Middle East conflict. It came following Israel’s killing of a senior Iranian Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) commander and its assassination of Iran-backed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Supported by United States naval destroyers, Israel’s military said its air defences intercepted a large number of the missiles, but there were some impacts in parts of central and south Israel.

The attack has been condemned globally and on Wednesday afternoon, Peters added New Zealand’s voice to the chorus of criticisms.

“New Zealand unequivocally condemns Iran’s attack on Israel overnight. This is the kind of escalation New Zealand and partners have been warning against. Civilians throughout the Middle East are already enduring intolerable suffering through continued conflict.”

The Israeli Embassy in Wellington said Iran “must pay a very heavy price” for its attack and promised Israel would “strongly respond”. It said this would be in accordance with international law, though its actions towards Gaza in the wake of the October 7 attacks have been criticised as going beyond its right to defend itself.

Peters warned against any party escalating the situation further.

“We urge all parties to step down from further retaliatory action. Maximum restraint and diplomatic solutions are essential.”

He told New Zealanders to not travel to Israel, Lebanon or Iran and said any Kiwis there should “leave now”.

“As the last 24 hours has demonstrated, the situation in the Middle East remains extremely volatile,” Peters said.

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Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has warned Kiwis to leave Israel, Iran and Lebanon now and also to not travel there. Photo / Dean Purcell.

The minister also condemned a shooting and knife attack in the Israeli city of Jaffa. Six people were killed and 10 others wounded in the attack that happened minutes before the Iranian strikes.

Labour’s deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni told RNZ on Wednesday morning that the events overnight were “horrifying to watch”.

“As a peaceful nation, it is hard for New Zealand to comprehend the level of destruction that is going on over there,” she said.

“All of us want to see a ceasefire, all of us want to see a de-escalation, but instead we are seeing the absolute opposite of that and it just seems to be escalating at pace and so of course we have a high level of concern here.”

Act MP Simon Court said the last 12 months of attacks on Israel – from Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran – were “always an Iranian war to drive Jewish people out of Middle East”. He said Kiwi politicians should condemn Iran and support Jewish people.

“Far too many New Zealanders have naively supported this proxy war by participating in Iran’s international propaganda campaign. Demonising the people of Israel has softened up the international community for an all-out assault on the only functional democracy in the Middle East.

“Iran and its allies are actively hostile to our values of democracy, freedom, and religious tolerance. Their goal is not justice, it is extermination.”

Iran’s attack comes just days ahead of the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ incursion into Israel and the murder of more than 1100 people there. That reignited tensions in the region, leading Israel to retaliate against targets in Gaza. It also recently focused strikes on Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.

Peters has repeatedly warned of the possibility of a regional conflict if countries don’t deescalate, telling the United Nations General Assembly last week that a “catastrophic and ruinous path” had been followed in Gaza.

“This misery was caused by both Hamas’ monstrous terrorist attacks last year and the now overwhelming nature of Israel’s response. We are most concerned about the generational consequences of this level of suffering and violence, with no end in sight and which sees us on the precipice of an even wider conflict.”

Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub Press Gallery office.