STEPHEN Flynn has said that Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer “can no longer remain silent on the atrocities being committed in Gaza” following Friday’s ruling at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Israel has been told to take all measures within its power to prevent genocide by the UN’s top court.
The country was further told to take measures to prevent and punish direct incitement of genocide in the Gaza Strip and immediate, effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip.
Reacting to the news, the SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn (below) said: “Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer can no longer remain silent on the atrocities being committed in Gaza. They must back an immediate ceasefire now.
“Westminster cannot just turn a blind eye to the deaths of thousands of children and civilians.
“There must be an end to the collective punishment of the Palestinian people, Israeli hostages must be released – and inspectors must be allowed into Gaza to investigate war crimes.
“The Prime Minister must come before the House of Commons outlining both his support for the court’s ruling and what action he intends to take, as a key ally of Israel, to safeguard civilian lives.”
First Minister Humza Yousaf also reacted to the news, writing on social media: "The #ICJ order is clear. The killing and destruction in Gaza must stop.
"Urgent humanitarian assistance must be provided to prevent more suffering. Hostages must be released immediately.
"With such death and destruction, we will continue to call for an immediate ceasefire."
Elsewhere, SNP MP Tommy Sheppard commented on Twitter/X: “UK Government cannot ignore this.
“Must now act to suspend arms sales to Israel and make clear its support for international rule of law.”
Speaking at PMQs on Wednesday, Flynn challenged the Prime Minister to condemn the shooting of a Palestinian man walking under a white flag as a “war crime”. Sunak refused to do so.
Labour leader Starmer also didn’t commit to labelling what happened a “war crime” during an interview with Robert Peston.
READ MORE: BBC Question Time: Fiona Bruce clashes with audience member over Palestine
“What I don’t think is wise and we’re always being asked to do this is for politicians to sit looking at clips on social media or on programmes and forming instant judgments about whether it’s a breach of this law or that,” he said.
“That doesn’t seem to be wise but I don’t recoil from the fact or don’t resile from the fact that of course Israel has got to comply with international law.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel