Israeli military response gone ‘too far’; Singapore to donate more aid to Gaza, foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan says

Balakrishnan also said that in spite of calls by some people to do so, Singapore will not sever diplomatic ties with Israel and recall its ambassador, as these moves will not resolve the situation.

“Ceremonially breaking ties with countries every time we disapprove of their actions, in my view, that’s not constructive,” he said.

“Whatever we say or do diplomatically will not change the situation on the ground nor, I will add, will it influence Israel to suddenly change its policy, or will it necessarily immediately reduce the suffering on the Palestinians.”

Instead, it is important to maintain good ties with both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, he said.

Balakrishnan on Thursday also stressed the importance of domestic unity and to not allow external events to affect Singapore’s cohesion.

The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has resulted in a humanitarian crisis that is “appalling” with far too many innocent civilians lost or maimed, said Balakrishnan.

Singapore condemned Hamas’ attack on Israeli civilians and kidnapping of hostages on October 7 as these were blatant and abhorrent acts of terrorism.

“To excuse terrorism now for whatever reason, in fact, puts Singapore at risk,” he said, as terrorism is a “clear and present threat” to Singapore.

Singapore also recognised Israel’s right to self-defence, not because it is taking sides, but because “we will assert Singapore’s right to self-defence if we ever face a situation like that”.

He said however that Israel’s military response has gone “too far”.

“For avoidance of ambiguity, I’m going to repeat that line: Israel’s military response has gone too far

“The catastrophic situation in Gaza demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to alleviate the unbearable suffering