Singapore to deliver seventh tranche of humanitarian aid to Gaza

Singapore will send a seventh tranche of aid to Gaza, consisting of essential items and medical supplies, amid a ceasefire that has caused the fighting in the region to pause.

Giving an update in Parliament on Feb 4, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, said that he had spoken to his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi a day earlier to confirm the aid, which will be delivered by a Republic of Singapore Air Force Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft.

A new round of fund-raising will also be conducted by local charity Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation (RLAF) during the upcoming holy Islamic month of Ramadan that starts in March, he added.

The new tranche of aid items, which will be sent to Singapore's partners in Jordan, follows six earlier tranches of humanitarian aid to Gaza since the start of the war in Oct 2023, netting a total of more than $19 million in cash and donations.

Dr Balakrishnan was responding to questions from MPs Ang Wei Neng (West Coast GRC), Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim (Chua Chu Kang GRC) and Alex Yam (Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC) about actions Singapore would be taking to help Gaza, in light of the recent truce.

Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel have agreed on a ceasefire that will pause the war in Gaza and broker an end to the brutal 16-month conflict, said Qatar's Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, on Jan 15.

Both parties have largely upheld the agreement so far, with some of the hostages taken captive by Hamas after the Oct 7, 2023, attack released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Besides financial aid and supplies, Singapore plans to keep working with Palestinian leaders to help them build capacity, said Dr Balakrishnan.

Almost 800 Palestinian officials have gone through capacity-building efforts in Singapore, through study visits here and courses in areas like public administration, urban development and healthcare.

Responding to Workers' Party MP Dennis Tan (Hougang), who had asked if there is any role Singapore can play to provide more technical assistance to help with infrastructural reconstruction, Dr Balakrishnan acknowledged that there are dire infrastructural needs.

More than 46,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly civilians, have been killed since the conflict started, according to the local health authorities. Much of Gaza also now lies in ruins, following attacks by Israel.

But the lack of a sustainable peace is the key impediment to meeting these ground needs, said Dr Balakrishnan.

"The limiting factor is not money... but it is an assurance of peace, and 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," he said.

Dr Balakrishnan was also asked how Singapore can contribute to sustaining the ceasefire agreement and promote regional stability. To this, he said Singapore has to be "circumspect and to understand the limits" to the role that it 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," Dr Balakrishnan said. "But we need to understand the complexity and 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, said the minister.

He added that the Republic believes the only viable path for achieving a comprehensive, just and durable solution to the longstanding conflict is a negotiated two-state solution, consistent with the relevant United Nations 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," said Dr Balakrishnan.