The Israeli Embassy in Singapore has been forced to delete a social media post that the city-state said was "insensitive" toward Palestinians.
The Singaporean interior minister said Monday that it warned the embassy saying the post about Palestinians, published over the weekend, could inflame tensions.
Israel's brutal war on Gaza and the deepening humanitarian crisis in the enclave since the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion have divided opinion across the world.
The post reportedly said Israel was mentioned 43 times in the Koran but Palestine – the name Palestinians give to what they hope will become their independent, sovereign state – was not, according to local media.
Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam said he asked Singapore's Foreign Ministry to tell the Israeli Embassy to remove the post made Sunday after learning about it, which the mission immediately did.
"That post on the Israeli embassy social media page is completely unacceptable. I was very upset when I was told about it," Shanmugam told reporters, according to a transcript.
"It is insensitive and inappropriate. It carries the risk of undermining our safety, security and harmony in Singapore."
Shanmugam said the post had been taken down.
"Posts like these can ... inflame tensions, and can put the Jewish community here at risk. The anger from the post can potentially spill over into the physical realm," he added.
The Israeli Embassy was not immediately available for comment.
Singapore has condemned the Hamas incursion on Israel but has also said that Israel's military response "has now gone too far."
