THE SNP has today written to Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer urging them to “change course” and back an immediate ceasefire in Gaza amid mounting concern over plans for a major military assault on Rafah.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn warned the Prime Minister and the Labour leader that the action would “amount to waging a war in the largest refugee camp in the world.”
He said the assault “cannot be allowed to happen” and warned that “only pressing for an immediate ceasefire has any hope of stopping an even more horrific humanitarian disaster unfolding before the watching world.”
Mr Flynn wrote: “Whatever our differences on this issue in the past number of months, whatever the rationale for the UK government and the Labour Party in opposing an immediate ceasefire until this point, surely now is the time to say enough is enough.”
Rafah, on the southern border with Egypt, is the last remaining designated safe region in Gaza and is providing refuge to more than half of its 2.3 million population.
Despite the SNP and the Scottish government’s call for an end to war, arms companies supplying Israel with bombs and parts for warplanes have been invited to the Scottish Parliament for a reception, according to news platform The Ferret.
The event for February 24 has been organised by an umbrella group for the arms sector called ADS Group and sponsored by Thales, a French arms firm which has been targeted by protesters for its links to Israel.
Firms invited to a reception at Holyrood include the US arms multinational Raytheon which makes smart bombs for Israel, and Italian arms giant Leonardo which makes components for F-35 fighter jets, which are used by Israeli forces.
Mr Sunak has not yet commented on Israel’s plans, but Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he is “deeply concerned” about a ground invasion of Rafah
“The priority must be an immediate pause in the fighting to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire,” Lord Cameron posted on X.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer echoed the Tory line, saying the expected Israeli invasion would be “catastrophic.”
He wrote on X: “The fighting must stop now. We need a sustainable ceasefire.”
