SINGAPORE: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has congratulated Dr Mohammad Mustafa on his appointment as the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Mustafa, a senior economic advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas, was appointed as the prime minister on March 14.

Lee said Mustafa’s appointment came at a very challenging time and Singapore is deeply concerned about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

“We support an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to allow for the swift and unhindered delivery of aid,” he said in a letter to Mustafa, dated April 5.

The text of the letter was shared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on its website, Saturday.

Lee said Singapore has delivered three tranches of humanitarian assistance to Gaza and deployed a Republic of Singapore Air Force aircraft for airdrop missions.

He said Singapore’s Enhanced Technical Assistance Package (ETAP) also supports the PA’s capacity-building efforts and more than 700 Palestinian officials have attended training courses and study visits under the ETAP so far.

The prime minister said Singapore has also established its Representative Office in Ramallah in 2022 to further facilitate the country’s engagements with the PA and extend an invitation to Mustafa to visit Singapore in the future.