Gaza
To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken regarding the situation in Gaza. (S4T-00756)
The Scottish Government condemns in the strongest possible terms the escalating cycle of violence, be it rocket attacks or air strikes in Gaza and Israel, and the disproportionate impact in particular on civilians in Gaza, who the United Nations estimates make up approximately 75 per cent of the Palestinian dead. We are appalled that the death toll now stands at more than 1,800, including nearly 400 children. We are pleased to note the ceasefire that was announced last night and the withdrawal of Israeli troops that was reported this morning, and we hope that meaningful peace talks, which we hope will lead to a lasting ceasefire, will start as soon as possible.
It was announced on 30 July that the Scottish Government is providing £500,000 in humanitarian aid, in addition to the United Kingdom contribution, to help people affected by the crisis in Gaza. The Scottish Government has also offered to treat here in Scottish hospitals casualties who require specialist care as a result of the conflict.
We call for an immediate lifting of the blockade in Gaza, which we believe to be tantamount to collective punishment.
Since the conflict started, the Scottish Government has written to the Prime Minister, on 25 July, the Home Secretary, on 18 July, and the Foreign Secretary, on 9 July, to ask the UK to take concrete action to make meaningful progress towards a lasting peace and to ask that it plays its part in international refugee settlement programmes, in which the Scottish Government is happy to play its part. The Scottish Government has demonstrated that we cannot, should not and must not stand idly by while innocent civilians are being killed.
I am today, on behalf of the Scottish Government, calling for an immediate arms embargo on Israel. The United Nations has said that there is a strong possibility that international law has been violated and the UN secretary general has described the recent shelling of a school in Rafah as “a criminal act.” It is imperative that we decipher whether or not UK arms have been used in any violation of international law. Until that has been confirmed, the UK must implement a complete arms embargo on Israel.
I thank the minister for that very comprehensive reply and applaud the Scottish Government for what it has been doing. In particular, I commend it for its recent announcement.
The minister mentioned the aid that has been sent to Gaza—in particular medical aid—and talked about bringing Palestinian people here for medical treatment. He said that the Scottish Government has written to the Westminster Government. Do we have any update on that? Is the Westminster Government working with the Scottish Government to aid people from Gaza to come here to get medical treatment?
Yesterday, we spoke to the director of Medical Aid for Palestinians, which is an organisation working in Gaza that I know the member is aware of. We spoke to its director in Gaza, who is putting together a list of those who are in priority need of specialist care. That discussion is going on with the non-governmental organisation on the ground. The member will appreciate that we have to consult a number of Governments: the Israeli Government; the Egyptian Government in terms of the Rafah crossing; the Palestinian Authority; and, indeed, the UK Government, which will issue the visas should we agree to offer people specialist care. I have to say that, in previous cases when we have wanted to bring people here for specialist care, the UK Government has not impeded that and has helped. I am sure that, because of the priority and the immediacy of the need in this case, it will also be willing to assist on this occasion.
I hope that the minister will keep us updated on what is going on. It is imperative that we get the injured people help.
The minister mentioned that 1,800 Palestinians have been killed and more than 9,000 injured—the vast majority of them children. We have seen horrendous pictures on television of what has happened. He also reiterated Ban Ki-moon’s comments with regard to international law that those responsible should be held to account. The Israelis are responsible in this instance for 1,800 people being killed. Does the minister agree with Ban Ki-moon and many others that those responsible should be held to account and should perhaps be sent before the International Criminal Court?
We have said—be it the First Minister or me directly on behalf of the Scottish Government—that we call for an immediate UN investigation into all civilian deaths. Those who have violated international law must feel the full force of international law and be brought to justice, but that must be on all sides.
We have condemned the actions of the Israeli Government in Gaza as “heavily disproportionate”. Israel has a right to safety and security, and of course nobody would tolerate rockets being fired indiscriminately—let us not beat around the bush: the rockets are designed and are fired indiscriminately to kill. However, we cannot ignore the fact that, as the member said, 1,800 have been killed, the majority of whom were civilians. Children who are playing on a beach, feeding pigeons in the street or sleeping in a United Nations shelter are not terrorists. They have committed no crime. Therefore, of course we back UN calls for an international investigation and Scotland would support that.
I, too, welcome the ceasefire and sincerely hope that it will hold on this occasion. I also welcome the humanitarian aid that has been offered by the Scottish Government and the UK Government, and I hope that it is able to get to the people who need it most.
We surely must all abhor the loss of innocent lives in Israel and Palestine while condemning utterly the targeting of UN schools and other facilities, particularly when we now know that the UN has guaranteed that there are no missiles or weapons in or terrorists occupying those facilities, which, in one case, was said to be the position minutes before a rocket attack was launched by Israeli forces. We must also condemn the sheer scale of the loss of civilian lives in this small strip of land that the Palestinians inhabit.
Does the minister agree that the only way that this appalling tragedy will finally end is if the world community backs a secure Israel and a viable Palestinian state, the end of illegal settlements, the dismantling of the separation wall and the restoration of water and fuel supplies to Gaza as soon as possible?
I agree entirely. Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, has said that there is a strong possibility that international law has been violated and UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has called the shelling of the UN school in Rafah
“a moral outrage and a criminal act.”
Therefore it is imperative that a UN investigation is carried out with international partners and players.
We must show leadership. Indeed, the tone of the First Minister’s letter to the Prime Minister was that the UK must call for the matter to be dealt with urgently through international collaboration and leadership that has so far been missing.
I agree with Patricia Ferguson on how we should support peace. We believe in a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, the dismantling of the separation wall, the removal of illegal settlements and the lifting of the inhumane and illegitimate blockade of Gaza, which the Prime Minister has called an “open-air prison”. No innocent civilians should be living in that prison and the blockade should be lifted. I welcome the cross-party support for those principles.
We Conservatives abhor the loss of life in Gaza. Does the minister not agree that the reports from the UN itself about terrorists in Gaza using UN schools as hideouts and weapons stores are deeply concerning? Does he also agree that it is essential that we continue working towards the two-state solution? I hope that the minister shares my deepest concern about Hamas’s explicit commitment to the destruction of Israel as stated in its founding charter.
I thank the member for his questions. I reaffirm our commitment to the two-state solution. However, as William Hague, the former Foreign Secretary, made clear in a statement earlier this year, the time for the two-state solution is beginning to run out the more settlements continue to expand into Palestinian land. We support the two-state solution, but action towards that must be immediate.
I agree with what was said about Hamas’s objectives and I, too, condemn those. Indeed, in every one of our six statements on the subject, whether from the First Minister or from me, we have been at pains to stress that rocket attacks on Israel are indiscriminate. They are designed to injure civilians; they are not targeted. No country should live with such a situation. However, according to international law, action must be proportionate. The Israel Government’s actions have been disproportionate. We should stand united in condemnation of that.
We have all, night after night, watched with disbelief atrocity after atrocity on the television. We have seen the killing of innocent children and civilians and Patricia Ferguson has mentioned what has happened at UN schools and facilities. The Israeli response is that its military will investigate those events.
It is great to hear that we have moved on to ceasefire territory—I hope that that leads to lasting peace—but there is a danger that some of what has occurred will be forgotten. Will the minister assure me that, whatever happens, the Scottish Government, together with the UK Government I hope, will continue to pressure the UN to ensure that a proper international investigation takes place? We cannot allow those events to be forgotten.
I agree that we have witnessed horrific scenes; indeed, I think that all members, across the chamber, will have been horrified by what we have seen.
Bruce Crawford is correct. I give him an assurance that the Scottish Government will not let the matter go. If it goes off our TV screens and away from the pages of our newspapers, the Scottish Government will stand committed to calling for an immediate independent UN investigation. That was the nature and tone of the First Minister’s letter urging the Prime Minister to show urgency and leadership on the question, so that people who have violated international law are brought to justice, regardless of who they are. At the heart of the entire issue is the fact that compassion and justice have been missing. I agree with the member and give him a firm commitment that the Scottish Government will not be dissuaded and will continue to call for a UN investigation into all civilian deaths.
I congratulate the Scottish Government on the clear stance that it has taken on the horrific events of the past few weeks, and I endorse the call for an arms embargo.
The minister will be aware that there has also been a call for a wider programme of boycotts, divestment and sanctions targeted at the Israeli Government. The call has been endorsed by global figures, including Desmond Tutu. Some local authorities in Scotland have acted in that respect. Does the Scottish Government support such a stance? Does it support the call for a wider programme of boycotts, divestment and sanctions?
I thank the member for his welcome for initiatives in relation to the Israel-Gaza violence.
The Scottish Government does not have a policy of boycott and does not advocate a boycott of Israel. We are not alone in that; the member will be aware that Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority and the representative of the Palestinian people on the west bank, does not call for a boycott of Israel. At the same time, the Scottish Government has made it clear that we do not dictate to cultural institutions, organisations or individuals what they should choose to do or not do.
The reason why we must have engagement is that every time the Government engages, be it with the Palestinians or with the Israelis, we put forward our concerns in the strongest possible terms.
Will the minister join me in congratulating my 14-year-old constituent Robert McEwan, who wrote to me about the plight of Palestinian children?
A quarter of the population of Gaza has been displaced during the conflict and the on-going destruction of homes, schools and hospitals is causing widespread devastation. What more can be done to ease the suffering of the Palestinian people? In particular, how will the Scottish Government’s commitment of humanitarian assistance help to bring about the long-term reconstruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza?
I congratulate the member’s constituent Robert McEwan. I have spoken to many young people and even children who have witnessed the scenes of devastation and destruction in Gaza and have been compelled to do something. In my constituency I walked past a bake sale whose proceeds were going to Gaza. People of all ages have been moved to do something.
On the wider issue, the humanitarian aid—the £500,000—that we sent to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s Gaza flash appeal will go a long way, along with what other Governments have put into the pot, towards providing immediate assistance. That is important, because that is the priority at the moment.
In the longer term, we will continue to work with every international partner with whom we can work to exert pressure on the Israeli Government to lift the blockade. The blockade is making Gaza an open-air prison, where people are starving and dying a slow death. That is completely unacceptable and is utterly to be condemned. We will continue to make those calls and to work with whichever Government pursues the aim of lifting the blockade, to ensure that that happens.
On the displacement of people, very early on when the violence began to escalate, we made the offer that Scotland is ready to play her part in taking Palestinian refugees, if that will assist. I give the member the strongest possible commitment that the Scottish Government will do whatever it can do with the powers that it has and the leadership role that it can play.
I appreciate the comments about a UN investigation. There is also the International Criminal Court. Referrals to the ICC can be made only by the UN Security Council—that is unlikely, given the council’s membership—or a member state, but given Palestine’s observer-state status it would be possible for Palestine to ratify the treaty and make an application to the ICC. Would the minister encourage such an approach?
Very early on in my role in this Government I wrote to the then Foreign Secretary, William Hague, to support the UN vote on enhanced status for Palestine at the United Nations. It is unfortunate that my request fell on deaf ears and the UK decided to abstain in the vote. We think that the political route is the best one.
As for whether the Palestinians pursue the ICC option, that is of course a matter for the Palestinians, who must decide what is best for them and their people. However, we have always supported the right of the Palestinians to a viable democratic state, and at the heart of the injustice over the past 60-odd years is the fact that, although Israel has the right to safety and security, the Palestinians have been denied a viable Palestinian state. We will do whatever the Palestinians believe is viable—and the Israelis believe is viable—in getting to such a position, within the two-state solution, with the 1967 borders and with Jerusalem as a shared capital.
The matter that the member raised is a decision for the Palestinians. As I said, we support Palestine’s enhanced status at the United Nations.
Previous
Business Motion