Singapore Hands Over Sixth Tranche of Humanitarian Assistance for Gaza, 21 January 2025

          Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Education and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman attended the handover ceremony of Singapore’s sixth tranche of humanitarian aid for Gaza totalling about S$1.3 million collected from the Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation (RLAF)’s public fundraising campaign. The ceremony was held in Amman. RLAF handed over S$851,000 to the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation, and S$435,000 to UNICEF. Since 7 October 2023, Singapore has contributed over S$19 million worth of donations for Gaza.

         In his remarks at the handover ceremony, Minister Maliki reaffirmed the deep and enduring friendship between Singapore and Jordan, which has allowed us to cooperate closely on the provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Minister Maliki also reiterated Singapore’s hope that the recently announced ceasefire and hostage release agreement would pave the way for the increased delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Minister Maliki expressed gratitude to RLAF for leading the fundraising efforts in Singapore for humanitarian operations in Gaza. Minister Maliki reiterated Singapore’s consistent view that a negotiated two-state solution consistent with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions remains the only viable path for achieving a comprehensive, just, and durable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  

          The full transcript of Minister Maliki’s remarks at the handover ceremony is appended at Annex.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

22 JANUARY 2025

Annex

TRANSCRIPT OF REMARKS BY MINISTER IN THE PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE, SECOND MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND SECOND MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS DR MOHAMAD MALIKI OSMAN AT THE RAHMATAN LIL ALAMIN FOUNDATION HANDOVER CEREMONY IN AMMAN, JORDAN, 21 JANUARY 2025

Mr Adnan A Hamid, CEO of Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation

Dr Hussein Mohammad Al Shebli, Secretary-General of the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation

Mr Abdul Fofana, UNICEF MENA Deputy Regional Director of Operations,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

             A very good afternoon, and thank you for taking the time to join us today. I am happy to be here in Jordan to witness the handover of S$851,000 from the Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation (RLAF) to the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO); and another S$435,000 to UNICEF, to support their commendable work in leading the international humanitarian aid operations for civilians in Gaza.

             Since the start of the Gaza conflict in October 2023, Jordan has been at the forefront in providing much-needed humanitarian aid and medical care to alleviate the immense suffering of civilians in Gaza. Aside from running two field hospitals in Gaza, Jordan has also transported over 57,000 tonnes of aid into Gaza overland and via air drops. In March 2024, at Jordan’s invitation, the Republic of Singapore Airforce (RSAF) participated in a multinational operation led by Jordan to air-drop essential supplies into Gaza. This is a testament to the deep and enduring friendship between our two countries.

             Singapore has welcomed the ceasefire and hostage release agreement announced last week. We hope that the agreement will lead to a permanent ceasefire as envisaged. Nevertheless, the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire.

             Humanitarian assistance must now take precedence. The agreement will hopefully provide a much-needed opening to step up the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, to alleviate the immense suffering there. Since the start of the conflict, Singapore has been focused especially on the delivery of critical humanitarian assistance into Gaza.

             At this juncture, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to RLAF for leading the effort to raise funds in Singapore for humanitarian operations in Gaza. While the conflict in Gaza is thousands of miles away, the suffering of civilians in Gaza speak to our common humanity. Since the start of the conflict, Singaporeans have opened their hearts and wallets, contributing about S$13 million to RLAF’s fundraising efforts. The funds raised have been disbursed to organisations such as UNRWA and UNICEF to support their relief operations there. Aside from the public fundraising, the Singapore Government has worked with regional partners such as Jordan, Cyprus, Egypt and the UAE to previously convey five earlier tranches of humanitarian assistance. With today’s sixth tranche, the total value of the contributions from Singapore and Singaporeans is over S$19 million. Singapore will continue to explore ways to support humanitarian and relief efforts in partnership with our regional partners. As announced last week, Singapore will be working on sending an air shipment of humanitarian supplies to the Palestinian people, and we are happy to once again work with our Jordanian partners on this. We also expect to continue further fundraising efforts, especially during the holy period of Ramadan.

             Beyond the conflict in Gaza, Singapore hopes that both Israeli and Palestinian leaders will come together for direct negotiations on a two-state solution consistent with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. Our position has always been that this is the only viable path to achieving a comprehensive, just, and durable solution to the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

              Let me close by once again thanking Jordan for exercising leadership in alleviating the humanitarian situation in Gaza. We will continue to find opportunities to work together with Jordan to provide direct assistance to the Palestinians. Thank you.

Photo credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore

Singapore handed over its sixth tranche of humanitarian assistance for Gaza at a ceremony in Amman, Jordan. The contribution totalled about S$1.3 million collected from the Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation (RLAF)’s public fundraising campaign. From left to right: Joana Perez Martorell, Regional Partnership and Resource Mobilisation Advisor of UNICEF; Abdul Fofana, UNICEF MENA Deputy Regional Director of Operations; RLAF Member of the Board of Trustees Zalman Putra Ahmad Ali; RLAF CEO Adnan Hamid; Second Minister for Education and Foreign Affairs Dr Maliki Osman; Singapore Non-Resident Ambassador to Jordan Shamsher Zaman; Dr Hussein Al Shebli, Secretary-General of the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO); and Raad Awad, Director of Finance Department of the JHCO.