Chamber and committees

What I have tried to do today is set out the range of actions that are within the powers of the Scottish Government. I have explored that issue extensively to maximise the effectiveness of the intervention that we can make, because of the gravity of the situation that Mr McLennan recounts. The steps that have been set out are designed to provide the maximum response that we can make in Scotland to the situation that we face. Of course, we will consider whatever steps emerge in the fullness of time.

I agree with Russell Findlay that we should never forget what happened on 7 October 2023, and I agree with him that we should never forget what is going on in Gaza now, which has been going on for a considerable time.

I willingly accept my responsibility for the issues for which I have responsibility. I was here, in the chamber, leading a debate on those questions yesterday; I will be here tomorrow, answering First Minister’s questions, as I do every Thursday; and I will appear here whenever the Parliament asks me to do so to account for my actions. Some of my responsibilities are covered in the statement, which is about the way in which our enterprise agencies operate—that is my responsibility. I have to explain to the Parliament the approaches that we are taking.

On the question of the recognition of the Palestinian state, I do not think that it is premature; it is long overdue, to be honest—long overdue by multiple decades.

Finally, I met the Jewish community on Monday. I did so to explain to them face to face what I was thinking about the way in which this issue had to be handled. It is not the first time that I have met the community; I have had regular meetings with it. I am certain that the community will be disappointed by some of the things that I have said today. I am not in any doubt about that. However, I have to look at the situation in Gaza, and I have to think about the responsibility that my ministers carry to act within the law. That has underpinned the central decision that I have announced today. As First Minister, I am expected to operate within the law, as are my ministers—and I expect it of them. The current situation in relation to the case of genocide puts ministers in a position in which, if we do not take the actions that I am taking today, we could be at risk of not operating within the law.

The comments that I have made in my statement set out the range of interventions that the Scottish Government can take—the very significant range of interventions that we can take within our power. Part of that involves the approach that we are taking on international trade. We are making it clear that the Scottish Government will not support the development, encouragement or nurturing of international trade. That is the correct approach for us to take so that we are focused entirely on using our influence and resources to ensure that the conflict is brought to an end.

I hope that, in my statement, I set out my absolute view that there needs to be a peaceful settlement in the middle east, in which the state of Israel and a Palestinian state can exist side by side, and that they can live in peace and security in the fashion that I discussed with Mr Sarwar a moment ago.

I acknowledge that there is a difference between the actions of the Netanyahu Government and the actions of all the people of Israel. There is clearly a difference between those two elements, and it is important. The Netanyahu Government is in command of the government of Israel. It is that Government that is prosecuting the situation in Gaza. That is the Government that needs to be held to account. That is the Government that needs to change course. All the actions that I am setting out and endorsing or encouraging are designed to have that purpose.

I agree with Pauline McNeill that the situation is no longer a war; it stopped being a war a long time ago. Her description of what is happening in Gaza as genocide accurately describes what is going on, so I agree with her characterisation of the process that is under way as ethnic cleansing.

I know how substantially Pauline McNeill will be acting to help the young girl who she mentioned. She raised the practical difficulties that exist, which are tied up with the fact that we have no effective humanitarian routes of engagement in Gaza at present. That is entirely at the hand of the Israeli Government.

During the summer, I met representatives of UNICEF, who told me about the volume of aid that is sitting within viewing distance of the people of Gaza but which cannot get there because of the actions of the Israeli Government. It is critical that international pressure and our collaboration with the UK Government help to sustain the humanitarian effort to create the corridors and the pathways that will enable us to support young people such as the young person to whom Pauline McNeill referred.

I assure Pauline McNeill that we are actively engaged in trying to find solutions, but that will depend on the pressure that can be applied by the international community to create the necessary pathways.

The issues that Mr Dornan has raised are central to the debate. I assure him that I have used every opportunity in dialogue with the Prime Minister to advance the discussion with the United Kingdom Government. The Prime Minister has been entirely willing to engage on the question, and I welcome that. I have written to the Prime Minister today, setting out the various propositions and proposals that I have explained to the Parliament. I would welcome further dialogue with the UK Government to advance those issues and to enable me to convey to the Prime Minister the sentiments of the Scottish Parliament—which will, of course, be debated in the debate that is about to commence and which are important in contributing to the thinking of the UK Government on the actions that it needs to take in that respect.

The Scottish Government has contacted the United Kingdom Government. In November 2024, the Minister for Equalities wrote to the UK Government on behalf of Gaza Families Reunited to encourage the establishment of a scheme to reunite families from Gaza that would be similar to the scheme that we had in place in relation to Ukraine. The UK Government has not agreed to such a proposition, but the on-going awfulness of the situation and the concerns of families that Emma Roddick has put to me demonstrate the need for us to continue to press for such an approach to be taken to ensure that we do all that we can to support individuals who have been affected by the crisis.

I have set out a package of measures in the economic, humanitarian and diplomatic space that are within my responsibilities to undertake. I have explored with my ministerial colleagues extensively the range of options that are available to us, and the product of that analysis is what Parliament has before it today. I must act in a lawful fashion at all times. It is an essential obligation, as I set out in the statement that I have given to Parliament today. I reassure Ruth Maguire that every step that I can take is being taken.

With respect, I do not think that that is the problem. The organisations that I have spoken to have given me a very clear outline of the arrangements that they have in place, and they have a track record of delivering aid. What is necessary is a safe pathway to do so. There are people who are being killed when they are going to get aid at some of the existing aid arrangements. That illustrates that it is, in certain circumstances, unsafe for people even to access aid that is managing to reach them. We need safe and humanitarian routes to get that aid there. It is close at hand, but it needs safety to get there.

As Christine Grahame knows, and recounts in her question, there are devolved and reserved responsibilities that apply to these issues. There is a free trade agreement between the United Kingdom and Israel, which I do not think should be maintained, because of the situation in Gaza. That relates to many of the issues that Christine Grahame puts to me, which would be resolved if we were to take a different course in the United Kingdom about that engagement with Israel on trade.