Facilitating Humanitarian Aid and Fundraising Efforts following Ceasefire in Israel and Hamas Conflict

3 Mr Ang Wei Neng asked 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.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs (Dr Vivian Balakrishnan): 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 and filed by Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim in today’s Order Paper. And I also hope to address question for oral answer filed by Mr Alex Yam for the Sitting on or after 5 February 2025.

Mr Speaker: Please go ahead.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: All these questions relate to the situation in Gaza and Singapore’s humanitarian response.

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

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict in October 2023, Singapore and Singaporeans have contributed significantly. 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 comprising almost S$1.3 million that were raised by the Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation (RLAF), and this was given to the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation and to the United Nations Children's Fund (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 Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF's) Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft and we will deliver these to our Jordanian partners. I have just spoken to the Jordanian Foreign Minister yesterday to confirm these arrangements.

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

Our contributions would not have been possible without the generous support of Singaporeans and the hard work of organisations like RLAF and the Singapore Red Cross. I hope that Singaporeans will continue to contribute to these fundraising efforts. In fact, RLAF will be embarking on further fundraising for Gaza during the holy month of Ramadan.

The reconstruction needs for Gaza will be significant and Singapore will continue to contribute either bilaterally or in partnership with others. We also stand ready, through our Enhanced Technical Assistance Package to support training programmes in Gaza in collaboration with the Palestinian Authority.

Mr Alex 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. As stated in my written reply to a Parliamentary Question in May 2024, a wider conflict will have serious implications on the safety and security of everyone, including our 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 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.

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 these 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 solution.

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 light of the painful 16 months that have just passed.

Mr Speaker: Mr Ang.

Mr Ang Wei Neng (West Coast): Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank the Minister for the comprehensive reply. In the last round, when the local Muslim foundation did a fundraising, our Nanyang residents were encouraged and also contributed to the fundraising and we are looking forward to the next fundraising round that is coming in the next month, during the Ramadan period.

I would like 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 hospital so that we can be involved in the reconstruction of Gaza?

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: I thank the Member's residents and indeed Singaporeans all over 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. And that means, especially on education, on scholarships. We are, in fact, expanding our scholarships to both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels 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. And 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 our partners throughout the Middle East.

Mr Speaker: Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim.

Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim (Chua Chu Kang): Mr Speaker, I thank the Minister for answering my question. Besides the good work and the fundraising of our people to assist the civilians in Gaza, in the midst of all these fundraising, can there be greater involvement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to, possibly, help Singaporeans understand the complexities or what the Minister mentioned, the deep historical entanglements, during the process of our fundraising? So that besides doing what we can for others, we can 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 multiracial, multi-religious, multilingual 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 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. The Member has been with me on our visit and so has Mr Gerald Giam. They have been very intrigued when they looked at the composition of our delegation and how that diverse crew can work so closely together and be constructive.

Singapore's position when we interact with the Palestinians is, first, they are just interested in how we do it. And that is why, when we offer capacity-building programmes and focus on education, focus on training, focus on helping them come up to speed with public administration, with digitalisation and finance and all the other aspects, it has got extra resonance and there is extra interest.

I also remind them that, in fact, Gaza is about half the size of Singapore and it has got a population one-third of Singapore. Which means, actually, Singapore is a more crowded, congested placed than Gaza. Again, the peace, the security, the cohesion and, of course, the economic success of Singapore stand as a beacon of hope and of what is possible in the future. So, it is these intangible elements that, in fact, give us more salience.

But without overstating a point – at the end, we are far away and we are small. We are not in the immediate neighbourhood. We cannot rebuild Gaza. But we can stand as a positive example of a successful multiracial, multi-religious society which has learned to hang together, to confront challenges collectively and we have succeeded, so far, for 60 years.

Mr Speaker: Mr Alex Yam.

Mr Alex Yam (Marsiling-Yew Tee): Sir, I would like to ask the Minister two supplementary questions. One, with regard to the donations that have been provided. As of January this year, through RLAF, we have provided S$19 million in terms of aid to the people of Gaza. 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 the Minister last year, have been very helpful but I think it bears reassuring to 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?

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: The humanitarian support has been provided in several separate channels. First, that is the delivery of emergency humanitarian aid: food, essential supplies, medical supplies. And for that, I should highlight the role of our RSAF in delivering these physical supplies on the ground and through even heli-drops. And as I said, there will be another mission to send further supplies to Jordan in the coming weeks. So, that is one channel.

Another channel is money. As I had illustrated just now, Minister Maliki was in Jordan. Almost $1.3 million dollars were donated to the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation and to UNICEF focusing especially and obviously, on children.

The third modality. Members might recall that we have doctors in Singapore who have been providing teleconsultation for the more complicated cases resulting from injuries in Gaza. And I want to make a shout-out for them. I am quite sure if we asked 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, for that, 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. So, 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.

Could the Member share his second supplementary question again?

Mr Alex Yam: Mr Speaker, to the Minister, how does Singapore access the credibility and sustainability of the current ceasefire agreement and what diplomatic tools do we have, especially in terms of our developed relations with countries in the region, that we can leverage upon to encourage both parties in this conflict to uphold it for the long haul.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: 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. Members have 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 released. These are people who are completely innocent who have nothing to do with the conflict there. They have been held hostage for more than a year. I was very glad to see them released as well.

Having said all that, phase two and phase three are going to be very, very complicated. And they 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 directly, face-to-face and to work out these complicated details. That is the only way you are going to get a comprehensive, just and durable solution. But we should approach this from a position of humility and goodwill, and whatever we can contribute, in our own small way, we will continue to do so,

And let us just reflect also – this is the season when we are still celebrating Chinese New Year, looking forward to Ramadan, SG60. 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.

Mr Speaker: Last supplementary question. Mr Dennis Tan.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Hougang): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Minister for his answers and I do appreciate Minister's answers on support in terms of capacity building, as well as education. 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 and public utilities? Because, as we can imagine, these are very dire and urgent needs on the ground at this moment.

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, and because as the Member has 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.