External Affairs Minister Humza Yousaf has urged Scots to donate to an emergency appeal to help those affected by the Gaza crisis, as the Scottish Government repeated its call for an immediate ceasefire and an arms embargo.
Mr Yousaf said the international community cannot "stand idly by" as the death toll rises among civilians in the troubled region.
"As a Government we are adding our voice to those in the international community calling for an immediate, longer term ceasefire to put an end to the violence in Gaza which is causing so many civilian deaths and injuries," he said.
The minister also reiterated a plea for an arms embargo, amid reports that military equipment containing parts made in Scotland and the wider UK are being used against the residents of Gaza.
"That is why earlier this week I called for an immediate suspension of UK arms sales to Israel while an investigation takes place," he said.
"The UN has already indicated there is a strong possibility that international law has been violated through the hostilities in Gaza, until this has been established the UK Government needs to implement a complete suspension of arms sales to Israel.
"We must be certain that any military equipment from Scotland and the UK is not being used in violation of international safeguards to ensure we are not complicit in any heinous actions."
"I am proud to see people across Scotland condemn this escalating cycle of violence and I would encourage people to text DONATE to 70000 to the Disasters Emergency Committee's Gaza Crisis Appeal, as every single donation, no matter how big or small will help those who are suffering and in need."
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) said its appeal for Gaza had raised more than £4.5 million in less than 24 hours.
DEC chief executive Saleh Saeed said: ''The funds are desperately needed, with on-going fighting in Gaza creating an unbearable situation for families and children."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article