‘Unconscionable’: Singapore slams Israel’s Gaza offensive, hints at shift on Palestinian state recognition

‘Unconscionable’: Singapore slams Israel’s Gaza offensive, hints at shift on Palestinian state recognition



Displaced Palestinians flee southward in the central Gaza Strip after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south, September 21, 2025. — Reuters pic

Monday, 22 Sep 2025 2:18 PM MYT


SINGAPORE, Sept 22 — Singapore may reconsider its stance on recognising a Palestinian state if the conflict worsens or if Israel further undermines the prospect of a two-state solution, the country’s Foreign Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan told Parliament today, according to a report by CNA.

“We will recognise the State of Palestine when it has an effective government that accepts Israel’s right to exist and categorically renounces terrorism,” Dr Balakrishnan said, stressing that Singapore has long supported a negotiated two-state settlement to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

The minister’s remarks came a day after Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal formally recognised a Palestinian state, joining more than 140 countries worldwide. Their decision, meant to signal frustration with the Gaza war and to push for a two-state solution, drew a sharp rebuke from Israel.

Dr Balakrishnan said Singapore would also impose targeted sanctions on “leaders of radical right-wing settler groups or organisations responsible for acts of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank”, with details to follow.

Singapore has consistently maintained that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and has backed UN resolutions calling for Israel to halt settlement expansion.

“We call on the Israeli government to cease settlement construction and expansion,” he said.

“We oppose ongoing attempts to create new facts on the ground which undermine the prospects for a two-state solution.”


Condemning Israel’s intensified military operations in Gaza, Dr Balakrishnan described the humanitarian situation as “shocking” and the scale of civilian deaths as “harrowing”, citing reports of more than 60,000 killed, including a third who were children.

“Israel’s military operations … have exacerbated the prolonged, desperate suffering of innocent civilians. This is unconscionable,” he said.

“The deliberate and unlawful denial of humanitarian aid to a civilian population is completely unacceptable.”

He warned that some of Israel’s actions “may even be a breach of international humanitarian law”.

While affirming the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, Dr Balakrishnan said recognition hinges on the emergence of a unified Palestinian government exercising effective control over both the West Bank and Gaza — a situation that has not existed since Hamas seized Gaza in 2007.

He noted that Hamas still rejects Israel’s right to exist and has yet to renounce violence.

Singapore, he said, continues to support the Palestinian Authority and has provided more than S$24 million (RM78.7 million) in humanitarian aid, including medical supplies and prosthetics for injured Palestinians.

The latest tranche of assistance will fund treatment for amputees in Jordan and food aid in Gaza.

Concluding his address, Dr Balakrishnan said lasting peace requires “territorial and political compromise”.

Both Israelis and Palestinians, he added, “have claims to a sovereign state in their ancestral homeland… there can be no ‘river-to-the-sea’ for either side”.