The world can no longer stand by as Gaza death count ticks up - Angus Robertson

Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz said: “The world must know, and Hamas leaders must know – if by Ramadan our hostages are not home, the fighting will continue everywhere, to include the Rafah area.” Ramadan – the Islamic holy month of fasting – begins this year on March 10.

While Israel has an unquestionable right to defend itself following the horrific events of October 7 by Hamas, the killing of 28,000 people – including nearly 13,000 children – cannot be justified.

Deaths from hunger and disease are growing exponentially. The potential death toll from such an offensive is unthinkable. As UN relief chief Martin Griffiths said, “Enough is enough”. The world can no longer stand by as the death count ticks up.

This week, the SNP in Westminster will present a motion in the House of Commons urging the Parliament to back an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

For days the UK Labour Party has been non-committal about the vote even though Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said the SNP motion is “perfectly reasonable”. Labour front benchers have obfuscated and avoided this question – literally in some cases.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves was filmed fleeing from a voter who asked whether she could tolerate the plight of innocent children in Gaza. Meanwhile, the Shadow Foreign Secretary declined to commit to backing the SNP motion when it was presented to him by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.

He and the UK Labour party must unequivocally back an immediate ceasefire. No ifs or buts, and no obfuscation of wording. Let’s be clear: anything other than an immediate ceasefire will mean the deaths of innocent Palestinians will continue.

This is important. When Parliament expresses its view, the UK Government must heed it. When I was SNP Westminster Leader, the parliament prevented David Cameron’s government from bombing Syria in 2013 after defeating his motion.

Rishi Sunak must heed the views of Parliament, so this is a pivotal opportunity to declare that people across the UK demand an end to the killing and support the provision of aid.

The SNP has been calling for an immediate ceasefire since October 27, when the scale of the killing and potential humanitarian consequences became evident. The Scottish Parliament backed calls for an immediate ceasefire soon after.

It is important to be utterly clear that this call for an immediate ceasefire is to the government of Israel and to Hamas as well. The Israeli destruction of Gaza and so many civilians is the responsibility of the Israeli Government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

It is totally unacceptable that there has been a significant rise of antisemitism in the UK. Jews in Scotland and the UK are not responsible for the decisions of Netanyahu’s government and any antisemitism is totally unjustifiable – as it always is. However, we must remember that the horrific Hamas terrorist attack last October was the biggest indiscriminate act of murder against Jews since the holocaust.

With growing international momentum for an immediate ceasefire the time has come for an end to the conflict, the release of all Israeli hostages and renewed diplomatic intervention for a two state solution for Palestine and Israel.

Angus Robertson is SNP MSP for Edinburgh Central and Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Secretary