ASPEN, Colo. — Ng Eng Hen, the defense minister of Singapore, warned on Tuesday that the war in Gaza has created a new crop of potential terrorists.

“It’s been difficult for countries, whether they have Muslim populations or not,” Ng said, speaking during the opening session of the Aspen Security Forum. “I think the problem is that you’ve radicalized another generation of would-be terrorists in Gaza and elsewhere.”

He noted that Singapore’s population is 15% Muslim, and the country recently arrested two individuals, including a 14-year-old boy, who had been radicalized and were planning to commit an act of terrorism. He described the reaction to the conflict in his country as “anger.”

Ng also said that he thinks that, across many countries, including Singapore, the war has done damage to the U.S. and other governments’ reputations among younger generations.

“We’ve lost the young on this,” he said. “The young are, even in Singapore, particularly incensed about the violence and the fact that nothing is done to stop it.”

Ng said that the “retaliation, the retribution by the IDF” for Oct. 7 “is painful for all of us, but the greater problem there is that it can expand beyond Gaza and Israel.”

He said he thinks the conflict will have a “longer tail” and that the “larger problem” in the region is Iran, as both Israel and moderate Arab states know. He suggested the war has upended the Abraham Accords.

“I think some of the states want to resume relations with Israel, but domestically, in their politics, this has made it very, very difficult for them to sell,” he said.