Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam commended United States President Donald Trump, following the announcement of a"peace plan" between Israel and Hamas.
"He has to be commended tremendously for pushing both sides," said Shanmugam at a doorstop with the media.
"And ultimately, only the United States of America can influence Israel's cause of action, and he has done that.
I think a lot of it, lot of the credit, even for us to be here, has to go to him."
It will help the people of Palestine
Shanmugam also noted that Trump has been taking a personal interest in trying to achieve peace in the Middle East.
"So you know, every action of his, every statement of his, suggests that that is his specific desire. So we hope that he achieves his state goals. It will help the people of Palestine," said Shanmugam.
However, Shanmugam added that, as the media says,"it's not done until it's done."
"Media reports, headlines are encouraging. But at the same time, the media, many seasoned observers, are urging caution," he added, adding that he hopes it will be done.
"The situation today, at least, there's some hope, more hope than there was previously," he said.
Shanmugam was speaking to the media after meeting with three of the four scholars from the Palestinian Scholarship Initiative (PSI) who had just arrived in Singapore.
He shared that the government is supportive of the PSI and is pleased to have the scholars in Singapore so that they can return and contribute.
Trump's announcement
On Oct. 8 (U.S. time), United States President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had both signed off on"the first Phase of our Peace Plan."
Hamas would release all remaining hostages, and Israel would withdraw to a previously agreed-upon line.
Trump hailed the agreement as a “GREAT Day” for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding nations, and the U.S., writing on a Truth Social post “, BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS”.
CBS News reported that an agreement “in principle” had been reached between all sides, but “procedural issues remained”.
Any hostage release was expected to begin 48 hours after those issues are resolved.
CBS quoted Trump, who said that he expected the hostages to be released on Monday (Oct. 12), a timeline corroborated by the Financial Times with a senior White House official.
Israel will release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange, allow aid to be “surged” into Gaza, and pull back troops from frontline positions in what the FT called “the first step of a phased redeployment”.
But what has been announced by Trump on Oct. 8 is just the first phase of a 20-point plan aimed at a “Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace”.
It also involves the further withdrawal of Israeli troops and the deployment of an international stabilisation force (ISF), in addition to Hamas willingly disarming.
Gaza would be governed by Palestinian technocrats who would themselves be overseen by an international supervisory body.
However, Hamas has not yet agreed to disarm.
