Singapore has said it will impose targeted sanctions on leaders of Israeli settler groups and will recognise a Palestinian state under the right conditions, Reuters reports.
Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, speaking in parliament, chided those Israeli politicians who have spoken about annexing parts of the West Bank or Gaza, the two Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.
“We call on the Israeli government to cease settlement construction and expansion,” he said, citing the so-called E1 settlement project as fragmenting the West Bank. “We oppose ongoing attempts to create new facts on the ground which undermine the prospects for a two-state solution.”
More details on the sanctions would be released at a later date, he said.
Balakrishnan said it was a matter of when, not if, Singapore recognises a Palestinian state and that the nation is waiting for an “appropriate constellation” of factors, including a need for an effective Palestinian government that accepts Israel’s right to exist and categorically renounces terrorism.
