SINGAPORE – The two-man Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) medical team deployed to Egypt has started treating civilian casualties from Gaza, the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said in a media statement on Jan 22.

The pair – Lieutenant-Colonel (Dr) Nazirul Hannan Abdul Aziz, a specialist in emergency medicine, and Military Expert 3 Jimmy Woo Ying Ming, who specialises as an operating theatre scrub nurse and in perioperative nursing – arrived on Jan 18.

They have been providing medical aid at Egypt’s El Arish port on board the French Armed Forces’ FS Dixmude, a landing helicopter dock with modern hospital facilities, which has been treating casualties from Gaza, said Mindef.

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen wrote in a Facebook post on Jan 22 that LTC (Dr) Nazirul and ME3 Woo started work immediately after arriving in Egypt.

LTC (Dr) Nazirul, through Mindef’s statement, said he and ME3 Woo have been working closely with the French medical team to provide the necessary medical care, including initial stabilisation and wound management.

“We are thankful for the opportunity to be part of the larger effort in supporting the humanitarian assistance for Gaza,” he said.

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, more than 25,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in the territory on Jan 21.

In November 2023, a Republic of Singapore Air Force plane with 46 SAF personnel – including pilots, aircrew, engineers and army security personnel – carried supplies such as medicine, sanitation items and food for civilians in Gaza to Egypt.

The supplies were provided to the Egyptian Red Crescent, which distributed them to the civilians.