While it is wrong to kill and kidnap innocent civilians, and they must be released, international law also prohibits "collectively punishing innocent civilians" who are not responsible for such actions, said former president Halimah Yacob in a Facebook post on Oct. 30.

Halimah was commenting on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, which she added had led to the death of more than 8,000 Palestinians, including more than 3,000 children, in Gaza.

On Oct. 7, Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel, killing soldiers and civilians while taking hostages back to Gaza.

Two days later, in response, Israel announced a "complete siege" of Gaza, and that meant cutting off the latter's electricity, food, water, and fuel supply, and called up 360,000 reservists.

The conflict has lasted for over three weeks.

A siege from "every corner" for people in Gaza

According to Halimah, this blockade of food, water, and medicine in Gaza had caused those who were not killed by bombs to suffer.

Additionally, these individuals have "nowhere to hide" as they would still not be able to escape the bombs and destruction even if they moved south as told.

As a result, more than 100 Palestinians living in the West Bank are dead, and over a million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes, said Halimah.

"It's really a siege from every corner," she added.

"Humanity dictates urgent intervention" in Israel-Hamas war

Citing the United Nations (UN) Conference on Trade and Development, Halimah further described the situation in Gaza as "perilous" because "prolonged restrictions and closures and frequent military operations," which stifled the economy and decimated infrastructure, had already caused Gaza to fall into "dire economic straits" even before the recent war broke out.

Hence, she contended that the world cannot just stand by and watch such deaths and destruction unfold in Gaza.

"Humanity dictates urgent intervention," urged Halimah.

Here, she pointed to the recent UN resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian truce and civilian protection as an example.

Singapore voted in favour of the resolution on Oct. 27 but highlighted it left out two areas in principle.

Additionally, Halimah shared that Singapore also supports the two-state solution while acknowledging that it requires "serious efforts and strong political will" for genuine negotiations to take place.

Nevertheless, in the meantime, aid must be "urgently allowed" in Palestinian territories to end the suffering of the innocent, said Halimah.

"Pity the children. My heart bleeds for them. Humanity is being severely tested in this war," she added.