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Vivian Balakrishnan to visit Palestinian territories, Israel, Gulf states

2024-03-18 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

AMMAN, Jordan – Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan will visit the Palestinian territories, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia from March 18 to March 24, as he continues his working visit to the Middle East.

For this leg of the trip, he will be accompanied by Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials and five MPs – Mr Alex Yam, Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin, Ms Rachel Ong and Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim from the ruling People’s Action Party, and Workers’ Party MP Gerald Giam.

The five MPs were in Amman, the capital of Jordan, on March 17, and they witnessed the presentation of a $6.1 million cheque to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the main UN aid agency in Gaza.

The funds are part of a record $8.1 million raised by Singapore charity Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation (RLAF) in late 2023 to provide relief and shelter to communities in the embattled Palestinian enclave.

An earlier tranche of $2 million was handed to UNRWA in November 2023.

RLAF CEO Muhammad Faizal Othman (left) handing over a cheque to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees chief of staff Ben Majekodunmi at Fairmont Hotel in Amman on March 17. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO

The MPs also joined Singaporean students in Amman for iftar – the meal which breaks the daytime fast of Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan.

“This is not a happy time,” said Dr Balakrishnan in a speech during the iftar meal, as he addressed questions posed to him by the students, including queries about his thoughts on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

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“We are here, trying to do what good we can. I meet the leaders, I have honest discussions, I tell them where we disagree,” the minister said.

“I’d like to believe what they value from us is our honesty, our ability to work with people, even though our positions are not identical.”

Dr Balakrishnan’s visit to the region began on March 15, when he made a stop in Doha to meet Qatar Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman Al Thani.

He then proceeded to Amman, where he met Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on March 16 and called on Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Al Khasawneh on March 17.

Dr Balakrishnan and Senior Minister of State for Defence Zaqy Mohamad also had an audience with King Abdullah II of Jordan at the Royal Palace in Aqaba on March 17 and marked the arrival of Singapore’s third tranche of humanitarian aid bound for Gaza at the King Abdullah II Air Base.

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With children in Gaza dying of hunger and about a quarter of the population at risk of famine due to the limited relief entering the territory, Singapore aid groups have redoubled their efforts to provide help on the ground and raise more funds back home.

Earlier in March, Singapore non-profit Humanity Matters raised more than $300,000, and a team of four is currently in Jordan to procure and pack medical, food and hydration supplies that will be sent to Gaza in collaboration with a local partner.

Another four tonnes of relief cargo, comprising 5,000 Kidz Comfort Packs, which included items like inflatable pillows and vitamin gummies, packed by 300 young people in Singapore, are en route to Jordan via sea.

Separately, a three-member team from Mercy Relief was in Cairo over the weekend. There, they prepared tens of thousands of food packages that will be distributed to families in Gaza over the coming weeks.

The organisation is working with local non-profit GDD, and it plans to raise more funds – $200,000, at least – so it can return to the region to provide another round of relief as soon as possible.

“It is all about hope,” said Mercy Relief chairman Satwant Singh in a video call with The Straits Times as he called on all Singaporeans to step forward. “This is a dire situation... A lot more needs to be done.”

RLAF plans to hold another round of fund raising for Gaza as well, from March 20 to 26.

Its chief executive, Mr Muhammad Faizal Othman, said the donation drive will go into full swing once RLAF gets the necessary permit.

Besides getting people to donate online, RLAF has requested all 70 mosques in Singapore to provide a donation box on March 22 during Friday prayers.

Said Mr Faizal: “We don’t have a target. We just do our best and get people to make donations.”

He said there are also plans for RLAF to visit Gaza when the situation becomes more stable, and the charity has an agreement to work with UNRWA in the territory until January 2025.

“People genuinely want to help, but I think it is best to be helping in a constructive manner,” Mr Faizal said.

“So go to the right channels, contribute, do the packing so that these things can help the Gazan people,” he added.

UNRWA chief of staff Ben Majekodunmi, who received the $6.1 million in funds from RLAF on March 17, said during the cheque presentation in Amman that the donations are “terribly needed”.

“The events on Oct 7 were awful. The events since Oct 7 are awful. They’re all beyond belief. They all have to stop,” he said.

“Until that happens, the kind of moral and financial support that is coming up in this event is really what’s keeping people alive.”