Maliki Osman attends Gaza conference in Cairo, announces expansion of capacity building efforts for Palestinian Authority

On Dec. 2 Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, Maliki Osman, attended the Cairo ministerial conference to enhance the humanitarian response in Gaza, hosted by Egypt in Cairo.

In his speech, Maliki, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Education, said that more is needed to be done to address the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

While in Cairo, Maliki also met with the Palestinian prime minister and foreign minister, Mohammed Mustafa, Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, as well as other foreign dignitaries present at the conference.

Humanitarian relief and ceasefire

During his conference speech Maliki spoke about Singapore’s concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, its call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, and preparations and hopes for the future, should a ceasefire be called.

These points were elaborated on during a doorstop interview that the minister held after the conference.

During the doorstop, he elaborated on the humanitarian situation, noting that winter was “fast approaching”, and that the people in Gaza would need better shelter and warm clothing, in addition to the already insufficient food and essential supplies.

Maliki also noted that this was true for the remaining hostages in Gaza, who were taken hostage during the Oct. 7 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas more than a year ago.

During the doorstop, he reiterated Singapore’s call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, and also the immediate, safe, and unconditional release of all remaining hostages.

S$18 million for relief efforts

During his speech and the doorstop, he said that Singaporeans and the Singapore government had collectively donated more than S$18 million in cash and in-kind donations for relief efforts in Gaza.

Maliki had gone to Egypt in November 2023 to hand over the first tranche of that aid, while Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan was present for the handover of the third tranche, which had been accompanied by an aircraft from the RSAF in March 2024.

He paid tribute to the various regional partners that had helped Singapore’s relief efforts, such as Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Cyprus.

He also encouraged Singaporeans to continue contributing to fundraising efforts by reputable organisations such as the Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation and the Singapore Red Cross.

Maliki shared that the conference had spoken not just about raising aid for Gaza, but also the difficult logistics of delivering that aid to Gaza, but also within Gaza.

Massive future needs

Maliki also spoke about the future.

He said that efforts towards a ceasefire were ongoing but difficult, but even should such a ceasefire be achieved, “the future needs of Gaza will be massive”.

Singapore stood ready to join the international community “in supporting the Palestinian people as they seek to rebuild their lives” after the ceasefire is reached.

Maliki touched on some of the efforts that had been made by Singapore through its Enhanced Technical Assistance Package (ETAP).

ETAP supported the Palestinian Authority, which is the governing body that controls the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, and its capacity-building efforts.

The programme would be expanded from an annual offering of three postgraduate scholarships in Singapore, to five undergraduate and five postgraduate scholarships, which Singapore hoped would contribute to the PA’s human capital development efforts, in preparation for eventual statehood.

60 years of diplomatic relations

Maliki also met several local and foreign dignitaries while in Cairo, including Abdelatty.

Abdelatty posted about the meeting on social media, describing Singapore and Egypt diplomatic ties as strong, and that the two friendly nations aspired to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2026.

He also hoped to advance various areas of bilateral cooperation to broader horizons.

Singapore is the fifth largest Asian investor in Egypt, with over US$ 700 million (S$941 million) in investments in the country.

Abdelatty reaffirmed Egypt's commitment to enhancing these investments and increasing bilateral trade exchanges.

Abdelatty welcomed the continued and enhanced cooperation in the cultural field, particularly the provision of Egyptian expertise to Singaporeans and students at the Al Azhar University, “ supporting efforts to promote the moderate approach to Islam in Singapore”.

Meanwhile, the Singapore Cooperation Programme has also trained about 700 Egyptian officials.

Maliki also met with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Palestine, the foreign ministers of Bahrain, Jordan, and Lebanon, and Malaysia’s deputy foreign minister.

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Top image via Ministry of Foreign Affairs