Israel’s military response to the Oct 7 Hamas attack has “gone too far”, but severing diplomatic ties with the country would not resolve the situation nor reduce the suffering of Palestinians, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said in parliament on Thursday (Feb 29).
Dr Balakrishnan was responding to MPs’ questions on the Israel-Hamas war while laying out his ministry’s budget spending plans for the year.
While the war has evoked strong emotions among Singaporeans, he urged them not to let the issue affect the country’s harmony or cohesion.
“Whilst we may feel a diversity of emotions on this, the worst thing would be to let this quarrel polarise and divide us as Singaporeans,” he told parliament.
On Oct 7 last year, Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel. Gunmen breached security barriers with a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza, killing about 1,200 and kidnapping scores of civilians.
Israel has responded by relentlessly bombarding Gaza and sending in ground troops, killing and displacing Palestinians. More than 30,000 people have been killed in the territory since the war began, according to its health ministry.
Singapore condemned the attack and recognised Israel’s right to self-defence, similar to how Singapore would invoke the same right should the country have been attacked, said Dr Balakrishnan, echoing what he previously stated in a parliamentary speech.
In his last parliamentary speech in November about the conflict, Dr Balakrishnan stated that Israel must accept a Palestinian state, just as Palestinians should accept Israel’s right to exist.
On Thursday however, the minister said: “Unfortunately, Israel’s military response has gone too far.