Ties with Mid-East partners, including Israel, key to Gaza aid delivery: Vivian

Keeping an open link with Israel, despite disagreement over the extent of its military response in Gaza, has been essential for Singapore to deliver aid and supplies to the stricken Palestinian enclave, said Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on March 25.

- Kok Yufeng Correspondent

 

This was a key reason why he had engaged Israeli leaders during a 10-day working visit to the Middle East from March 15 to 24, he said.

"If we want, especially now and in the future, to step up humanitarian assistance, we need Israel's cooperation," he told reporters in Singapore after returning from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

During his visit, Dr Balakrishnan said, he had expressed clearly and unambiguously Singapore's views, including the Republic's concerns over the humanitarian situation in Gaza and how Israel's response to Hamas' attack on Oct 7, 2023, has now gone too far.

Describing the trip to the Middle East as a "necessary" one, Dr Balakrishnan said another objective was to consult and get a "direct download" from Singapore's Arab partners in the region on the conflict.

"I'm very glad that they gave us full access at senior levels (and) gave us very candid, open views," he added during the interview at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tanglin.

Dr Balakrishnan started his trip on March 15 with a stop in Doha in Qatar, where ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas are being held.