Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan's Replies to Parliamentary Questions on Singapore's Humanitarian Response to the Situation in Gaza

QUESTION

Mr Ang Wei Neng: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether Singapore will be (i) providing more humanitarian aid to Gaza in light of the recent ceasefire and (ii) facilitating the raising of funds from local residents to further support the re-building of Gaza.

REPLY

          Mr Speaker, with your permission, my reply will cover Mr Ang Wei Neng’s question as well as the Question that was set for written answer by Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim; and I hope also to address the Question that Mr Alex Yam may pose for the sitting on or after 5 February. All these questions relate to the situation in Gaza and Singapore’s humanitarian response.

2        First, Singapore welcomes the multi-phase ceasefire and the hostage release agreements that were announced on 15 January 2025. We urge all parties to abide by its terms and especially to enable humanitarian assistance to flow. Fortunately, we have seen an increased delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza in the last two and a half weeks, and this is vital to alleviate the dire humanitarian situation. This unimpeded delivery of aid must continue, and we urge all sides to reach an agreement for the subsequent phases in order to achieve, hopefully, a permanent ceasefire, and the release of all hostages, and to allow for the long-term reconstruction of Gaza.

3        Since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict in October 2023, Singapore and Singaporeans have contributed significantly, and we have so far conveyed six tranches of humanitarian assistance to Gaza. These six tranches account for more than S$19 million. In fact, Minister Maliki Osman just visited Jordan two weeks ago to witness the handover of the sixth tranche which comprised almost S$1.3 million that were raised by the Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation, and this was given to the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation and to UNICEF. We are making plans for a seventh tranche of humanitarian aid and this will consist of food, essential supplies and medical supplies. This will be conveyed by the RSAF’s Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft, and we will deliver this to our Jordanian partners. I have just spoken to the Jordanian Foreign Minister yesterday to confirm these arrangements.

4        Let me reiterate Singapore’s appreciation to all our regional partners in the Middle East, especially Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Cyprus, for their support in facilitating the delivery of our humanitarian assistance to Gaza. We look forward to doing more together and we hope to be able to provide more help to the civilians in Gaza as they rebuild their homes and their lives.

5        Our contributions would not have been possible without the generous support of Singaporeans, and the hard work of organisations like the Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation and the Singapore Red Cross. I hope that all Singaporeans will continue to contribute to these fundraising efforts. In fact, the Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation will be embarking on a further fundraising for Gaza during the holy month of Ramadan. The reconstruction needs for Gaza will be significant, and Singapore will continue to contribute bilaterally or in partnership with others in the region. We also stand ready, through our Enhanced Technical Assistance Package, to support training programmes in Gaza, in collaboration with the Palestinian Authority.  

6        Mr Yam asked whether the ongoing tensions in the region pose any immediate or foreseeable implications for Singapore’s diplomatic interests and regional stability in the Middle East. Singapore remains deeply concerned about the volatile situation, and as I stated in my previous written reply in May 2024, a wider conflict will have serious implications on the safety and security of everyone, including Singaporeans who are living in the Middle East and Singaporean companies operating in that region. I added that greater regional tensions would also impact international energy markets, commercial aviation, and global supply chains. Therefore, we will have to continue to monitor very closely the developments in the Middle East, and we are grateful that our strong ties with various partners in the Middle East have prevailed. In fact, working together has given us opportunities to deepen these diplomatic relations, and that is why we have been able to convey timely humanitarian assistance to the civilians in Gaza.

7        Mr Zhulkarnain and Mr Yam also asked about the role that Singapore can play in contributing to sustaining the ceasefire agreement, and promoting regional peace and stability. I understand the intent behind the questions, but I think we need to be realistic and we need to be circumspect about the role that we can play. What we can do from far away is to encourage all the parties to reach an agreement for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and to pursue a longer term solution. But we need to understand the complexity and the deep, historical entanglements of this conflict in the Middle East, and there will be no quick and easy solutions. Singapore supports the right of the Palestinian people to a homeland of their own. We believe that the only viable path for achieving a comprehensive, just, and durable solution to this long-standing conflict is a negotiated two-state solution, consistent with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. We hope that the leaders on both sides will find the political will, courage and imagination to resume direct negotiations, although we know that these will be very difficult in the light of the very painful 16 months that have just passed.

Supplementary Questions

Question 1:

Mr Ang Wei Neng: In the last round, when the local Muslim foundations were doing fund raising, our Nanyang residents were encouraged and also contributed to the fund raising. We are looking forward to the next fundraising that is coming in the next month, during Ramadan period. I want to ask a Supplementary Question to the Minister. If there is a permanent ceasefire, will the Singapore government consider trying to build a school or hospitals so that we can be involved in the reconstruction of Gaza?

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: I thank your residents and indeed Singaporeans who have contributed generously, and I am sure will continue to contribute generously during the holy month of Ramadan. There are many needs in Gaza, and we will focus especially on our partnership with the Palestinian Authority, in particular on capacity building. That means especially on education, on scholarships. We are, in fact, expanding our scholarships at both the undergraduate and post-graduate level, to deserving Palestinian scholars who will get in on their merit. We will also work closely to provide training opportunities for the bureaucrats in the Palestinian Authority, because they need to step up capacity if they are able to engage not only in reconstruction, but ultimately in administering a state of their own in a constructive way. That is the only way to really give long-term hope to the people of Palestine who deserve so much more. So, watch this space. We will continue to work very closely with the Palestinian Authority and, of course, our partners throughout the Middle East.

Question 2:

Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim: Besides the good work and the fundraising of our people to assist the civilians in Gaza, I think in the midst of all this fundraising, can there be greater involvement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to possibly help Singaporeans understand the complexities of what Minister mentioned, the deep, historical entanglements, during the process of our fundraising, so that besides doing what we can for others, we can also remind ourselves what we have here in Singapore and what we can hope to achieve in the future for Palestinians when we host them in Singapore.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Mr Zhulkarnain has actually raised quite a profound point. That first, we count our blessings in Singapore, that we are able to live at peace with security, a multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-lingual society, a tiny city-state in the heart of Southeast Asia. Even as we count our blessings, we do not take it for granted. What has happened in the Middle East, as indeed in many other troubled spots in the world, can also act, if we are not careful, to divide us or to polarise us in our responses to events far away. I consider it a blessing that in all these months, we have been able to keep our society together. We recognise that there may be differences in resonance or in reactions to the same incident, but that has not stopped us from being united, by being cohesive, by being constructive, and, in fact, being open-hearted and generous across all the communities. This is a very important point. I should also add that in all my interactions with the Palestinian Authority over the years and with our Arab partners in the Middle East, they have always been very intrigued. And you have been with me on our visit, and so has Mr Giam. They have been very intrigued when they look at the composition of our delegation, and how that diverse crew can work so closely together, and constructively. Singapore's position when we interact with the Palestinians is first, they are just interested in how we do it. And that's why when we offer capacity building programs and focus on education, focus on training, focus on helping them come up to speed with public administration, with digitalisation, with finance, and all the other aspects, it’s got extra resonance, and there's extra interest. I also remind them that, in fact, Gaza is about half the size of Singapore, and it's got a population one-third of Singapore. Which means actually Singapore is a more crowded, congested place than Gaza. And again, the peace, the security, the cohesion, and of course, the economic success of Singapore, stands as a beacon of hope, and of what is possible in the future. So, it is these intangible elements actually that, in fact, give us more salience, but without overstating the point that at the end, we are far away and we are small. We are not in the immediate neighbourhood. We can’t rebuild Gaza, but we can stand as a positive example of a successful multi-racial, multi-religious society, which has learned to hang together, to confront challenges collectively. And we have succeeded so far for 60 years.

Question 3:

Mr Alex Yam Ziming: I would like to ask two supplementary questions. One, with regard to the donations that have been provided as of January this year, through the RLAF. We have provided S$19 million in terms of aid to the people of Gaza. I think what is also important in the minds of Singaporeans who have contributed most generously to this effort is the assessment of the effectiveness of the aid provided and whether it has been properly accounted for. Our partners there, as we witnessed during our visit with Minister last year, have been very helpful, but I think it bears reassuring our donors in Singapore that they are properly accounted for. Secondly, how does Singapore assess the credibility and sustainability of the current ceasefire agreement, and what diplomatic tools do we have, especially our very developed relations with countries in the region, that can be leveraged upon to encourage both parties in this conflict to uphold it.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: The humanitarian support has been provided in several separate channels. First, of course, there's the delivery of emergency humanitarian food, essential supplies, medical supplies. For that we are, in fact, I should highlight the role of our SAF, the RSAF, in delivering these physical supplies on the ground, through even air-drops. As I said, there will be another mission to send further supplies to Jordan in the coming weeks. So that's one channel. Another channel is money. As I illustrated just now, Minister Maliki was in Jordan, almost S$1.3 million donated to the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation and to UNICEF focusing especially, obviously, on children. The third modality, you might recall that we have doctors in Singapore who have been providing teleconsultation for more complicated cases resulting from injuries in Gaza, and I want to make a shoutout for them. I'm quite sure if we ask for volunteers, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists would line up to go. But my concern is to make sure that it can be done safely, so that one I will not make any commitments at this stage. And then the fourth, as I illustrated earlier, is in our ongoing interactions with the Palestinian Authority - capacity building, education and scholarships. We will continue to do more of this. We will also continue to be very mindful that we need to make sure all our contributions are properly accounted for and used to benefit the widest group who need it the most.

Mr Speaker, this is an area where we do need to be circumspect and to understand the limits of our role. What we have in place now is a multi-phase ceasefire. In fact, only the first phase has been agreed, and so far, despite initial anxieties, it seems to be progressing well. You've all seen the release of hostages, and a ceasefire continues to hold. On the point of the hostages. I should also mention the fact that I was very glad to see five Thai hostages. These are people completely innocent, nothing to do with the conflict there. They've been held hostage for more than a year. I was very glad to see them released as well. But having said all that, phase two and phase three are going to be very, very complicated, and it will depend, as I said earlier, on the political will, the imagination and the courage of the leaders on all sides to actually sit down and work through those very complicated negotiations that will be needed. There is a very limited role for us here, in respect of that. Both the Israelis and the Palestinians whom we have engaged know our position. We stand for peace. We stand for development. We believe the Palestinians need their own state, but we believe this can only come about through a negotiated two-state solution, and the two parties need to meet, actually directly, face-to-face, and to work out these complicated details. That's the only way you're going to get a comprehensive, just and durable solution. But we should approach this from a position of humility and goodwill. Whatever we can contribute in our own small way, we will continue to do so. Again, as I said, let's just reflect also, this is the season we're still celebrating Chinese New Year, looking forward to Ramadan, SG 60. This is also a reason for us to reflect on what we have achieved in Singapore and what to avoid, what to do more of, and how to be a relevant and constructive example to other parts of the world. Thank you.

Question 4:

Mr Dennis Tan: I thank the Minister for his answers, and I do appreciate the Minister’s answers on capacity building, support in terms of capacity building as well as education, and I do support that. I would like to ask a Supplementary Question. Beyond financial assistance, is there any role that Singapore can play to provide more, perhaps technical assistance to help with the infrastructural reconstruction, rebuilding, for example, the homes, hospitals, schools, public utilities. Because, as I, as we can imagine, these are very dire and urgent needs on the ground at this moment. Thank you.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Mr Tan is right. There are dire needs on the ground, and there are dire infrastructural needs, housing, utilities, water, electricity, hospitals, schools. But actually the key impediment to all this still remains a sustainable peace, and until there is an assurance of that. Because, again, as you said, actually the limiting factor is not money. There are more than enough donors even in the Middle East alone who will be quite happy to contribute. But it is an assurance of peace, an assurance that there is a political solution, and that whatever is built will benefit everyone fairly and will not be destroyed again in the next paroxysm of violence.

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MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS DR VIVIAN BALAKRISHNAN’S WRITTEN REPLY TO PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION

4 FEBRUARY 2025

QUESTION

Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs with the temporary ceasefire established in Gaza (a) how will Singapore assist in delivery of humanitarian efforts and aid assistance into Gaza; and (b) whether the Ministry will take any steps to explore further diplomatic relations with the Palestinian authorities and the Israeli government to promote peace and stability in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

REPLY

1        This question has been addressed in my reply to MP Ang Wei Neng on 4 February 2025.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

4 FEBRUARY 2025