Situation in Gaza: First Minister's statement - 3 September 2025

First Minister John Swinney's statement to the Scottish Parliament on 3 September 2025.

Presiding Officer,

The situation in Gaza is a man-made humanitarian catastrophe. Over 63,000 people in Gaza have been killed and many more maimed. Most of the Strip lies in ruins.

And famine now grips the population. In a compelling address to the UN Security Council on 27th August, Joyce Msuya, the UN's deputy humanitarian chief, advised that famine had been confirmed in north-central Gaza, where Gaza City is located.

And that it is expected to spread to the south by the end of this month.

The scale of suffering is unimaginable. Nobody can ignore it.

We must confront this crisis with urgency, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to accountability.

I know that colleagues across this Parliament share my horror at what is unfolding in Gaza.

Presiding Officer,

This government has consistently and unequivocally condemned the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas on 7 October 2023, which claimed the lives of over 1,200 Israelis and saw 251 hostages taken.

We have joined the international community in demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. All human life is equal; Israeli and Palestinian alike.

We have repeatedly called for an immediate and sustained ceasefire by all parties, a call that was endorsed by this Parliament on 21 November 2023, and for humanitarian aid to flow unrestricted into the territory.

And we have urged the UK Government to recognise the State of Palestine within the 1967 borders, joining over 140 UN member states – and growing – and aligning with the international consensus on a two-state solution. 

While I welcome the intent behind the decision of the UK Government to recognise a Palestinian State at the UN General Assembly this month, recognition must not be conditional and should be irreversible.

It is the right of Palestinians, not the gift of international powers and   must be backed by sanctions against the Israeli government.

A two-state solution is the only way that the Palestinian and Israeli peoples can have a future, living side-by-side in peace and security. The Palestinian people and the Israeli people deserve no less.

The Government of Israel has, however, overtly rejected this position, announcing another massive illegal settlement in the West Bank with Israel's Finance Minister explicitly claiming that the development would “bury the idea of a Palestinian state.”

On Monday, I spoke to Dr Husam Zomlot, Head of the Palestinian Mission in London. 

He described how settler violence and land grabs in the West Bank are accelerating, how it looked different to even two years ago, with Palestinian towns and cities behind barbed wire and walls, and roadblocks choking mobility across the territory. 

He told me that the economy was being choked, with unemployment around 50%. He was convinced that the aim of this activity was, as the Israeli Finance Minister set out, to end the prospect of a Palestinian state.

The Israeli security Cabinet's decision to seize Gaza City last month has been condemned by the United Kingdom, the majority of the UN Security Council and senior UN figures.

But again, the Israeli government has paid no heed.

We need to act. The UK Government needs to act.

I am therefore calling for the immediate recognition of the Palestinian State, strengthened sanctions against those complicit in illegal settlements, and the imposition of sanctions on the members of the Israeli security cabinet where they are complicit in the horrors facing civilians in Gaza City. 

I welcomed the UK Government's announcement in May that it had suspended trade negotiations with Israel, but it is clear that this action has made no difference. 

It is therefore time for the United Kingdom to withdraw from the UK-Israel Free Trade Agreement in view of Israel's behaviour.

I am also calling on the UK Government to follow the example of Ireland and prohibit the import of goods produced in Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.  

Presiding Officer,

This Government has contributed to  humanitarian responses to the Gaza crisis, contributing to date £1.3m for Gaza and the wider Middle East.

In November 2023, we provided £750,000 to support access to food, water, shelter, and medical supplies for over 670,000 displaced people. 

More recently, we provided £550,000 for the DEC Middle East Appeal, SCIAF and Mercy Corps.

We welcome that the UK Government has committed to supporting the evacuation of Gazan students who have been awarded places at Scottish Universities.

I have been calling for  some time for the UK to end arms sales to Israel.  The UK Government's decision to suspend some arms licences was welcome but I believe should go further.

All licenced arms exports should stop.

Presiding Officer,

I said recently that I shared the concerns of other countries and international leaders that a genocide appears to be unfolding in Gaza. 

I did not make that claim lightly.

The legal determination of genocide is the responsibility of international courts.

The International Court of Justice has found a prima facie case that Israel was committing genocide.

Under Article II of the 1948 Genocide Convention, two conditions must be met for genocide to be established:

(1) that specific acts — such as killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, or inflicting life conditions calculated to destroy a group — have occurred, and

(2) that these acts were carried out with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

Credible, widely documented evidence suggests that both of these conditions may be present in Israel's conduct in Gaza.

Over 63,000 Palestinians — the majority of them civilians, including over 15,000 children — have been killed since October 2023.

Vital infrastructure — including hospitals, homes, schools, and water systems — have been systematically destroyed. Access to food, water, and medical aid has been obstructed.

The entire population has faced repeated forced displacement — often under life-threatening conditions.

Statements by senior Israeli officials include dehumanising language and express intent to eliminate Gaza.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant described Palestinians as , and I quote “human animals” (9 October 2023).

Prime Minister Netanyahu invoked the biblical command “Remember Amalek” (28 October 2023), historically associated with collective annihilation⁶.

The Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said that Gaza would be “entirely destroyed” and its civilians relocated to a humanitarian zone in the south, before they would leave their homeland.

These statements have been cited in South Africa's legal submissions to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). International legal scholars have argued they help establish the specific intent required for a finding of genocide under the Convention.

Governments must act now.

Our neighbours in Ireland were the first government in the EU to say what the Israeli government is doing was genocide, when the Taoiseach told the Dáil on 28 May that the Israeli government was committing genocide in Gaza.

The UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese concluded in March 2024 that, “There are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating the commission of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza has been met.”

In April 2025, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher stated: “This is not a war for security. It is a war to erase a people. And our failure to stop it will haunt our generation, and history.”

The United Kingdom government should support the international rule of law and join South Africa's case at the ICJ and commit to implementing the ICC arrest warrants.

The UK must end military cooperation with the Israeli government while the war continues, and the question of genocide remains current.

Presiding Officer,

I want to address directly accusations that this opinion that I have set out could be seen as antisemitic.

Let me be clear: I utterly reject antisemitism and all forms of racism and hatred.

I stand with Scotland's Jewish, Muslim, and Palestinian communities, and condemn all forms of antisemitism, Islamophobia, and racism. I recognise the trauma experienced by these communities and pledge as First Minister to ensure their safety and dignity.

On Monday, I met members of Scotland's Jewish community. 

I did so because I wanted to reassure them of the respect I have for the contribution the community makes to all aspects of Scottish life. They are an integral part of Scotland's story. They are a valued and cherished community in Scotland.

I recognise however that events in the Middle East – and reactions to these events here in Scotland – do cause anxiety for members of our Jewish community, irrespective of their individual views on the conflict.

I also know that members of our community have been affected by Hamas's terrorism in the worst possible way and again pay tribute to the memory of Bernard Cowan.

My condemnation of this Israeli government's actions is grounded in international law, human rights, and belief in the equal value of every human life.

Many Jewish organisations and individuals —have condemned the assault on Gaza. Their courage reminds us that to speak out against mass violence is not antisemitic.

It is deeply human.

In fact, to speak out is our moral and legal responsibility.

Presiding Officer,

The challenge to this Parliament, this Government, the UK Government and governments across the world is – if we agree that we are witnessing an unfolding genocide – then what action should we take?

I have spoken about the actions I am calling on the UK Government to take but let me turn now to what this government will do.

We are instructing relevant delivery bodies where possible not to provide support facilitating trade between Scotland and Israel.

The UK has treaty obligations and duties in international law to respond appropriately when a situation involving a serious risk of genocide arises.

The Ministerial Code under which I operate, at section 1.7 lays a clear responsibility on all Ministers to comply with, and I quote, “international law and treaty obligations”.

The International Court of Justice has made plain that risk exists. Indeed, it has said there is a prima facie case of genocide in Gaza.

The Scottish Government cannot ignore this.

Previously, we have provided business grants and investment support to companies involved in the design, production, supply, and support of military equipment, technologies and services.

We do so because we recognise that defending our country – defending our continent - is a duty of government.

Anyone watching the war in Ukraine would, I hope, recognise the reality of the importance of defence. Indeed, the invasion shows we live in a world in which our national security faces much greater and more immediate threats.

In recognition of that changed international landscape, the Scottish Government will lift the restriction we have applied on the use of support for the production of munitions.

But, in the face of genocide, there can be no ‘business as usual'.

We will pause new awards of public money to arms companies whose products or services are provided to countries where there is plausible evidence of genocide being committed by that country.

That will include Israel.

The pause will apply where possible to new grants provided, or investments made, by the Scottish Government, our Enterprise Agencies and the Scottish National Investment Bank.

Any defence company seeking support from the Scottish Government will have to demonstrate that its products are not involved militarily with Israel.

The UK Government should review what other steps it must now take in view of the United Kingdom's duty in international law to respond when there is a serious risk of genocide.

And the International Court must come ultimately to a determination of the case against the Israeli government of genocide.

Until we have clarity, however, new public monies should not go to arms companies involved with the Israeli military.

I know there will be people here in Scotland, not least, apprentices funded by the Scottish Government working on the Clyde, at Rosyth and elsewhere, asking what does this mean for me?

So let me be clear, we have made a commitment –a legally binding commitment - to those young people and it will be honoured. Anyone in an apprenticeship or with a formal offer, will continue to be funded, in their current place, for the full duration of the apprenticeship.

Presiding Officer,

This is a humanitarian crisis, and Scotland will directly address that humanitarian need. 

We have a long history of helping those in desperate need and we will not be found wanting now.

I can announce today that we will provide £400,000 to Kids Operating Room to establish the Gaza HOPES Field Readiness Hub in Scotland.

This funding will help unlock $15 million of additional funding to deliver a rapidly deployable hospital in Gaza. Designed in Scotland to be built in just a week, it can operate in the most challenging environments, and last for decades. It will provide essential surgical, maternity and paediatric services to thousands of patients every year. The hub, or pilot hospital, will be co-ordinated from the city of Dundee and will support similar deployments in future crises.

We will also donate £600,000 to the UNOCHA led Humanitarian Fund for the Occupied Palestinian Territories which will provide life-saving health services, food and nutrition assistance, emergency shelter, water and sanitation, protection services, education support and cash for families, ensuring aid reaches those most at risk.

We have also committed to providing medical support for up to 20  injured children from Gaza and expect the first arrivals along with their families in mid-September. 

While there are significant challenges in relocating Human Rights Defenders such as journalists from Gaza at this moment in time, we are determined to do what we can and will explore this and other ways of supporting their vital work at pace.

We will also support those struggling for justice, however distant a prospect that currently seems. We are exploring practical measures to bring expertise within Scotland's legal establishment, our universities and our civil society to contribute to gathering and preserving evidence that may be used in international criminal cases.  

Presiding Officer,

We are witnessing a humanitarian disaster of historic proportions.

And yet, the bombs continue to fall.

The world cannot wait for a final court ruling before acting. The signs are clear. The alarm has been raised.

The bombs and rockets must stop. 

Humanitarian aid must flow. 

The international community, including the UK Government, must recognise a Palestinian state as the first step towards peace and a two-state solution.

A solution where the peoples of both Israel and Palestine can live side-by-side in peace and security.

Acknowledging that we are witnessing the signs of genocide brings with it a responsibility to act. The people of Scotland expect no less of us.

For the duration of this afternoon's business, I have authorised that the Palestinian flag be raised outside St Andrew's House as an indication of Scotland's solidarity with the people of Palestine.

Scotland will always raise her voice in favour of peace and humanity.