Extracts from Scottish Parliament questions: Constitution, External Affairs and Culture - Jan 31

Gaza (Humanitarian Assistance)

3. Rona Mackay (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (SNP)

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its funding for humanitarian assistance in Gaza. (S6O-03024)

The Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development (Christina McKelvie)

In November 2023, we provided £750,000 to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency to ease the suffering of innocent civilians caught up in the conflict in Gaza. We do not regularly fund UNRWA, but in that case we responded to a flash appeal for the current crisis. We do not currently have plans to make further contributions, not least because of broader budgetary pressures.

Given that more than 2 million people are at imminent risk of starvation, the United Kingdom Government and the international community must work with the UN to find mechanisms to increase the level of life-saving aid that is getting into Gaza, which Israel must facilitate.

Rona Mackay

As convener of the cross-party group on men’s violence against women and children, I wrote to the UK Government and the British Medical Association to request urgent aid for the thousands of women and children, including pregnant women, who have been disproportionately affected by this horrendous war. I have yet to receive a reply from either. Does the minister agree that an urgent ceasefire is the only way in which lives can now be saved?

Christina McKelvie

The situation in Gaza is catastrophic, particularly for women and children, who make up 70 per cent of those killed. More than half of the hospitals in Gaza have ceased to function, and the remaining hospitals provide vastly reduced services. The United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food has warned that famine is now inevitable. If the bombs and bullets do not get those women and children, malnutrition, disease and starvation will get them.

The only way to bring a stop to the horror and bring the hostages home is an immediate and permanent ceasefire on both sides. The international community cannot stand by while women and children starve, knowing that it could have done so much more to save them.

Gaza (Humanitarian Aid)

5. Kaukab Stewart (Glasgow Kelvin) (SNP)

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the United Kingdom Government regarding the funding that it has made available for humanitarian aid for people affected by the conflict in Gaza. (S6O-03026)

The Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development (Christina McKelvie)

We have been in continued discussions with the UK Government on that matter, and we welcome the additional £60 million that has been committed for the humanitarian response in Gaza, which Scottish taxpayers have, of course, contributed to. However, unless there is an immediate ceasefire and sufficient aid is allowed to enter Gaza, thousands more will die from bombardment, starvation and disease. That is why the First Minister has called on the UK Government to make it clear to the Israeli Government that it must comply with the International Court of Justice ruling or face being held accountable for the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians.

Kaukab Stewart

Over the weekend, the UK Foreign Office announced that it was pausing funding aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. What effect will that have, given that by far the largest and most effective aid delivery was through UNRWA and that that leaves the 81 per cent of the Gazan population who are already refugees without support? What is the Scottish Government’s response to the appeal by the secretary general of the United Nations, António Guterres, to countries that have suspended funding to the United Nations agency that is assisting Palestinian refugees to reconsider their decisions to ensure the continuity of its vital humanitarian operations?

Christina McKelvie

We recognise the swift action taken by UNRWA to dismiss the implicated employees and to launch a full independent investigation. UNRWA has sufficient funds to cover its humanitarian operations until the end of February. The situation must be resolved before then. The UK and the international community must work with the UN to ensure that aid can be provided to the population to avoid mass starvation, which we are warned is imminent.

Israel must facilitate and secure sustained delivery and distribution of vastly increased levels of aid in Gaza, in line with last week’s ruling by the International Court of Justice. We remain mindful of the words of António Guterres and the UN community.

Foysol Choudhury (Lothian) (Lab)

At the end of last year, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warned of a very high risk of famine in the Gaza strip. The report advised that more than half a million people were facing emergency levels of food insecurity, which led to all children in Gaza being at high risk of severe malnutrition and death. What specific discussions is the Scottish Government having with the UK Government about provisions to prevent famine from causing serious malnutrition and preventable deaths in Gaza?

Christina McKelvie

The UN special rapporteur on the right to food has already laid out the concerns that I think that everyone has about imminent starvation, particularly for women and children, in Gaza. Foysol Choudhury will have heard in my answers to previous questions on the topic that we remain committed to working with the UK Government and speaking with it about ways to ensure that aid gets to the people who need it.

The situation needs to change, and it needs to change now. The only way to do that is through a ceasefire, the hostages coming home, and aid going into Gaza to support the civilians who are impacted by the situation and prevent famine from arising in the next few weeks.