SINGAPORE: Singapore will impose financial sanctions on four Israelis and bar them from entering the city-state, its foreign affairs ministry announced on Friday, accusing them of “egregious acts of extreme violence” against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The ministry said actions committed in the West Bank by Meir Mordechai Ettinger, Elisha Yered, Ben-Zion Gopstein and Baruch Marzel were unlawful and had jeopardized the prospects for a two-state solution in Palestine.
“As a firm supporter of international law and the two-state solution, Singapore opposes any unilateral attempts to change facts on the ground through acts which are illegal under international law,” it said.
All four individuals have been previously sanctioned by the European Union.
Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan announced in parliament in September that leaders of Israeli settler groups would be sanctioned.
He also chided Israeli politicians who had spoken about annexing parts of the West Bank or Gaza, the two Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, and said the so-called E1 settlement project would fragment the West Bank.
Apart from imposing sanctions, Balakrishnan said Singapore would also recognize a Palestine state under the right conditions.
Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the area and saying the settlements provide security.
While Singapore and Israel have shared close diplomatic and military ties since the former gained independence in 1965, the city-state in 2024 voted in favor of numerous resolutions expressing support for the UN recognition of a Palestinian state.
Singapore imposes sanctions, entry bans on four Israeli West Bank settlers
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Singapore imposes sanctions, entry bans on four Israeli West Bank settlers
- Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan announced in parliament in September that leaders of Israeli settler groups would be sanctioned
Brazil’s Lula accuses Trump of seeking to forge ‘new UN’
- Lula defended multilateralism against what he called “the law of the jungle” in global affairs
- Key US allies including France and Britain have also expressed doubts
BRASILIA: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accused Donald Trump on Friday of trying to create “a new UN” with his proposed “Board of Peace.”
The veteran leftist joins other world leaders who have avoided signing up for Trump’s new global conflict resolution organization, where a permanent seat costs $1 billion and the chairman is Trump himself.
“Instead of fixing” the United Nations, “what’s happening? President Trump is proposing to create a new UN where only he is the owner,” Lula said.
Trump unveiled his “Board of Peace” at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos Thursday, joined on stage by leaders and officials from 19 countries to sign its founding charter.
Lula defended multilateralism against what he called “the law of the jungle” in global affairs.
His remarks come a day after he spoke by phone with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who urged his counterpart to safeguard the “central role” of the United Nations in international affairs.
In his remarks on Friday, Lula said “the UN charter is being torn.”
Although originally intended to oversee Gaza’s rebuilding, the board’s charter does not seem to limit its role to the Palestinian territory and appears to want to rival the United Nations.
Key US allies including France and Britain have also expressed doubts.
London balked at the inclusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces are fighting in Ukraine after invading in 2022.
France said the charter as it currently stood was “incompatible” with its international commitments, especially its UN membership.
