John Swinney in Palestine state letter plea as Israel Rafah strikes condemned

Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer must “immediately” recognise the state of Palestine, John Swinney has said.

The SNP leader has written to his political opponents to demand they “do the right thing”. He said the SNP would force a binding vote at Westminster after the general election if they failed to do so.

His letter to the Prime Minister and Labour leader Sir Keir said: “I urge you both to belatedly do the right thing and pledge to immediately recognise Palestine as a state in its own right.

Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah. Picture: Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images

“If you will not immediately commit to doing so, I can confirm that SNP MPs will bring forward a binding vote in the House of Commons at the first possible opportunity after the general election.”

Mr Swinney said recognition would offer “hope” that a “durable political solution” was possible between Israel and Palestine.

He said: “Ending the humanitarian catastrophe we are seeing in Gaza is without a doubt one of the greatest moral issues of our time. In generations to come, people will look back and ask what each of us with a platform did to end the suffering.

“We all have a duty to do whatever we can to bring about a peaceful resolution, and it is clear that full recognition of Palestine as a state in its own right will be a huge step towards a just and durable political solution.

“I am calling on the UK to follow the lead of Ireland, Norway and Spain by immediately recognising Palestine as a state – and if Rishi Sunak will not do it now, Keir Starmer must commit to doing so on his first day in Downing Street.”

The SNP, he said, had been a “moral compass” on the Gaza issues at Westminster.

The UK Government and the Labour party has been asked for comment.

It comes as SNP MSP John Mason said the International Criminal Court (ICC) was “biased against Israel” after it stated it would seek the arrest of senior Hamas leaders and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes.

In an email to Show Israel the Red Card, a group urging politicians to sever sporting links with the country, he said the ICC was “not neutral” and “are biased against Israel”.

Mr Netanyahu on Monday conceded there had been a “tragic mistake” and that Israel was investigating after strikes killed dozens of Palestinians in the Gaza city of Rafah.

Israel has faced new condemnation as local health officials said the strikes killed at least 45 Palestinians, including displaced people living in tents that were engulfed by fire.

Even some of Israel’s closest allies, particularly the United States, have expressed outrage at civilian deaths. Israel asserts that it adheres to international law even as it faces scrutiny in the world’s top courts, one of which last week demanded that it halt its offensive in Rafah.

Israel said it was looking into the civilian deaths, saying it struck a Hamas installation and killed two senior Hamas militants. Sunday night’s attack, which appeared to be one of the war’s deadliest, helped push the overall Palestinian death toll in the war above 36,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants in its tally.

France, a close European ally of Israel, said it was “outraged” by the violence.