Vivian Balakrishnan meets Jordan counterpart amid Singapore's humanitarian aid mission for Gaza

SINGAPORE: Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan met his Jordanian counterpart in Amman on Saturday (Mar 16) amid Singapore’s ongoing humanitarian aid mission to Gaza.

The minister, who is visiting Amman from Saturday to Sunday, called on Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi.

Dr Balakrishnan said they had spoken two weeks ago about the dire situation in Gaza and how Singapore and Jordan can work together to provide aid.

"I thanked him for Jordan’s swift facilitation of our ongoing humanitarian aid to Gaza," the minister wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement that both ministers noted that the strong bilateral relationship has allowed both sides to work closely together to organise the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s (RSAF) ongoing humanitarian aid mission for Gaza.

"They agreed on the pressing need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and that more channels should be explored to deliver aid to Gaza," said the ministry.

Singapore is delivering its third tranche of humanitarian assistance for Gaza via Jordan.

An A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) and a C-130 transport aircraft took off from Singapore on Friday for the mission.

At the invitation of the Jordanian government, the C-130 is staying on to conduct humanitarian airdrop operations out of Jordan with support from the Jordanian Armed Forces, MFA said on Friday.

The Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF) Changi Regional Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Coordination Centre (RHCC) led efforts to coordinate and consolidate contributions of humanitarian aid supplies from agencies including the SAF, Ministry of Health (MOH) and non-governmental organisation Relief Singapore.

Both ministers also welcomed the successful outcomes of Jordan’s Crown Prince Al Hussein’s official visit to Singapore in January 2024.

“They looked forward to stronger and deeper cooperation including in the fields of capacity building, technical and vocational education and training, and strengthening business-to-business links,” said MFA.

Crown Prince Al Hussein was in Singapore from Jan 10 to Jan 12 and met several Singapore leaders, including President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Six memorandums of understanding were signed on the sidelines of that visit.

HUMANITARIAN AID

The war began on Oct 7 when Hamas sent fighters into Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seizing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's ground and air campaign has killed more than 31,500 people, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. Israel says it has killed at least 13,000 Hamas members in the Gaza fighting.

The main United Nations aid agency in Gaza said on Saturday that acute malnutrition was accelerating in the north of the Palestinian enclave amid the war.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said one in three children under the age of two in northern Gaza is now acutely malnourished.

Air and sea relief deliveries into Gaza have started.

A first delivery into Gaza by the World Central Kitchen, pioneering a new sea route via Cyprus, arrived on Friday and was off-loaded, the charity said.

On Saturday, a second cargo of food aid was ready to depart by sea from Cyprus, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said, while the US and Jordan said they carried out an airdrop of humanitarian aid.

Israel has said it would send a delegation to Qatar for more talks with mediators after Hamas presented a new proposal for a ceasefire with an exchange of hostages and prisoners.