ISTANBUL

The Israeli war on Gaza has caused loss of support to the US among the young people, Singapore’s defense minister said.

“Not so much soft power, but I think across many countries, we’ve lost the young on this,” Ng Eng Hen replied to Foreign Policy magazine when asked whether the US was losing soft power amid war in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Ng noted the West’s role in the Israeli war on Gaza had caused “anger” among people in Southeast Asia.

The interview was conducted on the sidelines of Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, US.

“The problem is that you’ve radicalized another generation of would-be terrorists, in Gaza and elsewhere,” said the Singaporean defense minister.

“So, we hope that the violence in Gaza ends soon,” Ng said, adding that Singapore had airdropped humanitarian aid in Gaza through Jordan.

“But this is a longer tale, and it’s unfortunate that it happened,” he said.

Ng said: “The young, even in Singapore, are particularly incensed about the violence and the fact that nothing is done to stop it.”

“So, you would lose political support, not so much in soft power,” he added.

The defense minister stressed the world can’t afford a third conflict in Asia while the “two theaters” were going on in Ukraine, and in Gaza.

However, he said: “The retaliation and the retribution by the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) is painful for all of us.”

“But the greater problem there is that it can expand beyond Gaza and Israel,” he warned.

Ng added: “The larger problem, of course, is Iran.”

The war in Gaza, he said, “(…) has upended the Abraham Accords.”

“Some of the states want to resume relations with Israel, but domestically, their politics have made it very, very difficult for them to sell their message,” said the Singaporean defense minister.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

More than 38,800 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 89,400 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.