THE Alba Party and the Scottish Greens have both tabled motions in the Scottish Parliament calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East.
Alba's has been put forward by the party's only MSP, Ash Regan, while Ross Greer has put his name to the Greens' motion.
The Alba motion reads: "That the Parliament calls for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the killing of all innocents in the Middle East, believes that those from Hamas who have committed terrorist atrocities against Israelis should be prosecuted as criminals but that such terror does not justify a disproportionate and illegal military response by the government of Israel.
"Parliament calls on the UK Government to support an immediate ceasefire, justice for the Palestinian people and the provisioning and safe evacuation of Israeli hostages and civilians from a war zone."
The Greens' motion says: "That the Scottish Parliament supports the United Nations Secretary General's calls for a ceasefire in Gaza."
Regan, who defected to Alba earlier this month from the SNP, has insisted the international community must dedicate "all possible influence" to urge a ceasefire.
She told The National: "The Alba Party believe that the perpetrators of terrorist atrocities against innocent civilians must be condemned without caveat and prosecuted as criminals but that such terror cannot justify a disproportionate military response which is resulting in the indiscriminate death of more innocent civilians.
"The Alba Party associate ourselves with the comments of anyone seeking an immediate ceasefire, justice for the Palestinian people and the provisioning and safe evacuation of Israeli hostages and civilians from a war zone.
"The international community must now dedicate all possible influence to urge Israel and Palestine to choose the path of de-escalation and ceasefire.
"In the immediate term we need to secure a ceasefire so that we ensure that the killing stops. Following which it is time for those in the world who wield influence to bring to bear long standing United Nations resolutions and to redirect resources dedicated to weapons of war to resourcing the fountains of a path to peace.”
The move comes after the Welsh Parliament voted to call for an immediate ceasefire on Wednesday evening. There have since been strong calls for Holyrood to follow suit.
Last week Jonathon Shafi, a campaigner with the Stop the War coalition, said the move would show Scotland stands “full square” behind a ceasefire in Gaza.
On Thursday, pro-Palestinian protesters climbed on top of the Scottish Parliament. They could be seen flying a flag and a banner saying "stop arming Israel".
MSPs can now sign the motions to show their support, but what gets debated in the chamber is dealt with by the Parliamentary Bureau, so MSPs will still need to vote on whether to select the motion for debate.
The National has contacted Scottish Labour, the LibDems and the Scottish Conservatives asking if they will support either motion, but has received no response.
