The Scottish Government has, since the start of the conflict, repeatedly called for a ceasefire and for the unfettered flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. We have also condemned unreservedly Hamas’s brutality in October 2023, including the murder of the Scottish Jew Bernard Cowan, and have called for hostages to be released. Hamas must have no future in Gaza. We have called on the United Kingdom to end arms sales to Israel and to ensure that there is accountability for those who are responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity.

The First Minister has made it clear that the Scottish Government shares the concern of other Governments and international leaders that genocide appears to be unfolding in Gaza. We recognise the gravity of such a conclusion. Genocide is the gravest of international crimes, and Governments must act when they believe that it is happening.

As the First Minister set out, the ministerial code requires the Scottish Government to follow international law and to meet international treaty obligations. Indeed, it is noteworthy that the Labour amendment explicitly and specifically recognises the importance of international law to the question whether support for arms companies can continue. It is right to do so and, as the First Minister also set out, it is in taking account of international law and the ministerial code that we have paused new support.

It is, of course, ultimately for international courts to decide whether genocide has occurred, but Governments cannot wait until it is too late; history has taught us that harsh lesson. The last genocide in Europe took place in Srebrenica in 1995. However, it took until 2007, 12 years later, for the International Court of Justice to recognise that situation as genocide. History will judge all decision makers on what we have done to react to the facts that we can all see. Doing nothing, prevaricating or seeking to avoid difficult decisions is not an option.

In January 2024, the International Court of Justice found a prima facie case that the Israeli Government was committing genocide, and it issued provisional measures. In May 2024, following the Israel Defense Forces’ assault on Rafah, the court issued additional orders, to halt military operations that might inflict on Palestinians in Gaza conditions that could bring about their physical destruction in whole or in part.

The alarm has been raised. Evidence is on television daily. More than 63,000 people, most of whom were women and children, have died. Famine has been declared, while thousands of truckloads of aid are blocked and desperate Palestinians risk death in trying to access the meagre supplies that are being distributed under gunfire by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. United Nations leaders have expressed fears of a genocide.

I would be happy if my colleague Joanna Keating wanted to come in at this stage.

I think that I am right in saying that the most recent pooled aid package towards which we contributed was from April of this year, so not long ago. Ms Keating might have better information than I do, but I imagine that, because of the restrictions on Gaza, parts of that aid package might well not yet have been distributed.

Convener, this is the last committee appearance by Mr Stewart, who has been a tremendous deputy convener of the committee. I am saying all that after he has asked his question, so I cannot be accused of buttering him up before he asks it. I wish him well on the next committee that he takes part in.

First, I will talk about assurance issues. In relation to UNRWA, Mr Stewart will know that an extensive report was compiled by Ambassador Colonna, whom he might have met, because she was the French ambassador to the United Kingdom before she became the foreign minister of France. She pulled together a report that has given the international community the confidence to reinstate its primary support for Gaza through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

That is really good because, where there have been issues—and it is a matter of record that there have been issues—as far as it is possible to ascertain through trusted investigations, such as the Colonna report, we are talking about a very small minority of individuals and a very small number of cases. It is really important that we do not allow such cases to distract us from the scale of the tragedy that is taking place in Gaza and the need for us to work with trusted colleagues. The committee has had evidence on that—Mr Stewart was perhaps not at the session, but if he were, he will have heard Salah Saeed, the Disasters Emergency Committee member, saying the following:

“We have well-established processes to screen, identify and triangulate who we are working with on the ground, and the member charities on the ground have years and decades of expertise. There are international lists that people can cross-reference and, generally speaking, DEC organisations are dealing with international organisations that are helping to import and deliver food. In this kind of crisis it is the UN organisations that deliver food and fill the warehouses, which are then passed on to the international NGOs and local organisations.”—[Official Report, Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, 22 May 2025; c 12.]

It is part and parcel of the work of donor countries and aid organisations to ensure that the aid funding that has been provided goes to the intended recipients.

The challenge in Gaza is not unique, but it is an extreme example of a civilian population, in effect, being held prisoner, with people unable to leave, by an occupying power that is conducting very heavy military operations that have, frankly, flattened a significant part of the territory, killed tens of thousands of people and left the civilian population unable to feed itself. In those circumstances, we must support organisations that have experience of providing support. At present, there is a privatised and militarised operation that is not neutral—it is operated by the Israelis and the Americans—which is why the United Nations is not working with them. That operation has killed hundreds of people who were queuing for food. That is intolerable.

We have to help in so far as we are able to, and we are doing that through the humanitarian aid that we have provided. We understand our limits, but we are using our voice to say that what is happening is not acceptable. We have to hope that a ceasefire will come about and that humanitarian aid will be allowed back into Gaza.

Frankly, there is a bigger picture than is posed by Mr Stewart’s question, but I want to give him as much assurance as I can on aid and on the safeguards that are in place in relation to who is involved in the operations of proceedings. I acknowledge that Gaza’s civil infrastructure is being operated by a terrorist organisation, which is what Hamas is. However, that does not detract from the suffering of the civilian population or the targeting of the civilian population and civilian areas, including hospitals. None of that is acceptable. The international community has called that out repeatedly, and it must stop as soon as possible.

—and I am sure that he would wish that I ensure that the Scottish Government operates within the law.

I think that we also know that through the family of the former First Minister, who is a member of this Parliament. He has relations who could not get out through the Rafah crossing because the Israelis were limiting who was able to leave. This is the point that I was trying to make about the fact that borders are controlled on both sides. On the Gazan side of the border, it is controlled by Israel.

Would Mr Brown be content if I were to get clarification on the question from the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, so that it can confirm its understanding of how that situation operates?

I do not know the answer to that question, Mr Kerr. I would hope that any Government that is in a position to ameliorate the suffering of people in Gaza could and should play its part in making that possible. However, I will defer and seek some advice on the situation in relation to the Egyptian Government and the Rafah crossing, and I am happy to update you on that.

Oh, a magical piece of paper has just arrived in front of me. I am told that the Israeli Defence Force is stopping the trucks, and not Egypt.

We keep such things under permanent review. Because our budget is limited in terms of scope, one of the challenges that we have is that, when these kinds of significant appeals arise—for example, for emergencies in one part of the world or a situation such as Gaza—they are not something that the Scottish Government has any influence over. The requirements arise at different points, and that is one of the areas where we have to work quite hard in order to understand the relative priorities with regard to the different calls on the humanitarian aid that we have in place.

It is true to say that we are having a look at humanitarian aid. I do not know whether Mr Bibby has any specific points to make on whether more should be done, less should be done or things should be done differently. However, as I am sure that he would expect us to do, we are keeping those things under review.

Mr Kerr had the good fortune yesterday to sit next to his colleague Jamie Halcro Johnston, who asked a question at portfolio question time that enabled me to outline some of the controls that are in place, the grant letters that are issued and the processes that are involved. There is also a transparent reporting mechanism for those international partners. Mr Kerr mentioned the Disasters Emergency Committee and UNRWA. They provide reports about the funds that have been raised after different appeals have been made. I think that I am right in saying that the UNRWA report is on its website, so Mr Kerr and the committee can avail themselves of that.

We are confident, as is the UK Government, that the reporting mechanisms are robust and that the aid that has been provided has been used for the purposes for which it was raised.

I will have to look at the details, Mr Harvie. I do not have them at the forefront of my mind. I will not talk about something that I am not as familiar with as you are.

On the wider question of how we interact with Israel, there are a number of different levels to that. I think that Mr Harvie knows that there are some areas where the Scottish Parliament has an ability to influence the UK Government on its areas of responsibility. That is something that I talked about in my opening statement, and I continue to pursue it. It relates to the export licences to Israel.

Mr Harvie will know that the UK rescinded a number of those licences last year. I have not yet received any details about what those licences were for or which licences remain in place. It troubles me that equipment is still being provided to Israel, which will be used as part of the military system that is engaged in Gaza and, yes, the West Bank, too—we should not forget that, although I know that, this morning, we are talking just about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. We do not have transparency about that position, which is why I have written to the UK Government to seek clarification.

There is a series of other attendant and related issues. If we agree that we are not dealing with a state in the established way of doing things, we should be asking ourselves about the other interactions that we have with that state. Mr Harvie will know that the last time that the Scottish Government met with the state of Israel, to tell it how unhappy the Scottish Government was about what is going on, we told it that that would be the last time that we would meet it until it stopped what it was doing. Mr Harvie will know that; it received quite a lot of publicity at the time. Therefore, we are no longer dealing directly with Israel on these questions.

With regard to trade, I think that I am right to say that the United Kingdom Government has suspended its free trade agreement negotiations with the state of Israel, and I think that that action is correct. On whether there is a wider range of trade-related issues that could and should be looked at, Mr Harvie might draw my attention to the fact that the Government of Ireland is introducing legislation in relation to trade from illegal settlements in the occupied territories. If he were to ask me about that, I would say to him that I have been looking at that but that my best understanding is that that is a reserved issue because it relates to direct trade matters. However, I assure Mr Harvie that I remain open to looking at further ways in which Scotland can use its limited powers but also its voice in calling out Israel for what it is doing. I am perfectly content to look at a range of ways in which the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament could make our voices heard and make our moral outrage about what is happening clear.