 Good morning and a warm welcome to the 29th meeting of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee in 2023. Our first agenda item is to take evidence on Gaza following the Prime Minister's letter that was copied to me as committee convener. We are joined this morning by Angus Robertson MSP, Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, and Scott Whiteman, director of External Affairs at the Scottish Government. Thank you for coming at such short notice, Cabinet Secretary, and I invite you to make an opening statement. Thank you very much, convener, and I welcome the opportunity to speak to the committee this morning on the First Minister's letter calling for an immediate ceasefire on all sides to allow the creation of a humanitarian corridor into and out of Gaza. I want to start by reiterating the Scottish Government's condemnation of the appalling attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7. The barbaric attack was a single biggest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust. We must all acknowledge the trauma that this outrage has caused not only for the nation of Israel and Israelis, but among Jewish communities in Scotland and Jewish communities around the world. Among the victims was Bernard Cowan, an innocent Scot from Glasgow, and I extend my heartfelt condolences to his family and to the families of all of his fellow victims. Our condemnation is clear. Hamas missile attacks on Israel must stop, and Hamas must release immediately and unconditionally all hostages. Israel, as we have repeatedly stated, clearly has a right to self-defence, and Hamas and organisations like it cannot be a part of Gaza's future. Let's be clear, Hamas is not Gaza, and Gaza is not Hamas. All Israelis and Palestinians have the right to live in peace and to live in security. As President Biden has said, in defending itself and its citizens, Israel must do so in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law, which prioritises the protection of civilians. The situation that we are now seeing unfold in Gaza is disastrous. Over 1.4 million people have been displaced. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians in the Near East, UNRA, reports that its shelters have over 670,000 people in them, three times what is supposed to be their maximum capacity. Water, food, fuel and medical supplies are being restricted, and the trickle of aid going through the Rafa crossing is nowhere near enough, and the World Health Organization has warned of an imminent public health catastrophe. All the while, fatalities continue to mount. In addition to the over 1,400 Israelis slaughtered by Hamas, more than 8,500 Palestinians have now been killed. The head of UNICEF has said that in, I quote, more than 420 children are being killed or injured in Gaza each day. This is a tragedy unfolding before our eyes. That is why the First Minister has written to political leaders across the United Kingdom to emphasise that we must do everything within our powers to stop this. He has called for all parties to commit to an immediate ceasefire, to allow a humanitarian corridor to be opened so that the life-saving supplies can get into Gaza and innocent civilians who want to leave be given safe passage out, consistent with calls made by the United Nations Secretary General and many other ones. For those Gazans who want to stay, humanitarian aid will be vital, and we have already pledged £500,000 to UNRWA to support its flash appeal. The First Minister is meeting with UNRWA later today, and I can confirm to the committee that this morning we will announce that we will be providing a further £250,000 to support the immediate humanitarian effort. It is imperative that humanitarian agencies are able to safely deliver aid into Gaza in the quantities needed, and all parties should be working together to that end. For those who want to leave, the First Minister has expressed our support for the creation of a worldwide refugee resettlement scheme. My colleague, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice Shirley-Anne Somerville, has written to the Home Secretary to formally request that the UK Government use the already established UK resettlement scheme to work with the UN Commissioner for Refugees to establish a route to safety for the most vulnerable Gazans such as children and families, those with severe health needs and those with links to residents in Scotland. She has also reiterated that Scotland is ready to play its part in the medical evacuation of injured citizens from Gaza and Israeli citizens if required through activation of the UK Medevac scheme, and Scottish hospitals stand ready to treat injured civilians where we can. Finally, across the chamber we all recognise the value of having strong and supportive communities and the importance of community cohesion. Whilst Police Scotland has not reported a rise in hate crimes in response to the events of the Middle East, we must remain vigilant. There is no place in Scotland for antisemitism, there is no place in Scotland for Islamophobia. We must be alive to discrimination and to racism in all of its forms and ensure that there is one Scotland where people of all faiths are none, live in peace and harmony and where everyone has the opportunity to flourish. Thank you very much, cabinet secretary. As a committee, this is the second time that we have had to respond to geopolitical crisis in this area, the first being the Ukraine, where we were almost immediately talking about how Scotland would engage in the refugee resettlement scheme. I wonder if I could ask you just what engagement you have had or the First Minister has had with the Prime Minister about those two key asks of immediate ceasefire and the opportunity to support refugees, which, of course, the First Minister made a commitment to it in his conference speech recently. The First Minister has spoken in person to the Prime Minister, to the foreign secretary, to Lord Amid about those questions. Of course, the committee and the country are aware that the First Minister has family that are trapped in Gaza, together with others who have a connection to Scotland, the UK and other countries. There has been correspondence with the UK Government as well and there has been correspondence between the Scottish Government and the Israeli Embassy and with the Palestinian representative office in the United Kingdom as well. The Scottish Government's position in relation to the unconditional condemnation of Hamas, the right of Israel to self-defence, the support of international humanitarian law, the call for a ceasefire, the call for support of international organisations to be able to provide necessary aid to the people of Gaza. All of this has been communicated with all of those that I have mentioned and we will continue to do so. I am not going to move to questions from committee members. Thank you very much and good morning Cabinet Secretary. Following on from the convener's question, extending a question to your engagement with representatives of Israel and representatives of Palestine, has the Government had any conversations, for example, with ambassadors, consul generals and so on, from the respective states? The First Minister wrote to the ambassador of Israel on 11 October and wrote to the Palestinian representative to the UK on 13 October and channels of communication remain open. Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians have a consul general in Scotland, but the route for communication with both the Israelis and the Palestinians is given and no doubt there will be further communication. If I could also extend the question that the convener asked about refugees, I know that the organisation sanctuary foundation run by Krish Kandia was instrumental in helping with the Ukraine resettlement programme, organising 29,000 people to pledge to welcome Ukrainian refugees. They are extremely keen to recognise the First Minister's leading role when it comes to welcoming refugees from Gaza but also to participate in a very practical way, turning that theory into reality. I know that the First Minister is aware of them and I just wondered if you had any comments about that. I think that it's absolutely right to say that there are tremendous organisations, the kind of forms, as just mentioned, who have great experience dealing with refugees that have arrived here, whether from Ukraine or from Yemen or from Syria. We have a very strong track record in Scotland, both the Scottish Government and local authorities and the third sector, in helping people to arrive seeking refuge and helping them to find a new home here. I think that it's absolutely right that we have initiated contact with the UK Government to begin the process of thinking, and hopefully in time talking too, about how we might be able to help. I do reflect though that the experience of people in Gaza, not just now but historically as well, is that their movements are very restricted in times of peace and now in times of war too. As we were able to see on our television screens yesterday, we are only now beginning to see people allowed out. While I think that it's right that we think about everything that we can offer and I think that in addition to people seeking refuge, should they be allowed to leave, I think that obviously there are a great number of people who have suffered injury in Gaza. We know that hospitals in Gaza are overwhelmed and have been threatened with closure and have been ordered to evacuate in many cases too. Maybe there is a role for us here and others to offer help and support for people who require medical treatment both from the national health service but also in terms of military medicine as well. There is a great strength in the UK of that too. I think that it's right for us to think about all those things and that's why we've initiated contact with the UK Government. I think that we're still waiting to have substantive discussions about what that might amount to but I think that we're right to make preparations where it to be the case that people are able to leave and would seek refuge and would not have alternatives about where they might be able to go. Good morning to the cabinet secretary and can I acknowledge his statement earlier and his unequivocal condemnation of the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas? Can I ask about the situation in Scotland however? I think that it was Monday when the Prime Minister chaired an emergency meeting with Cobra in response to concerns that the conflict may have an impact, may increase the terror threat in the UK. To the extent that you can say, have you had discussions with the cabinet secretary for justice or Police Scotland about any increased terror threat in Scotland? I've not been privy and Mr Cameron be aware that it's not my area of direct responsibility for those conversations. He'll also appreciate that operational matters for the police and for the security services are for Police Scotland and for the security services. I have no doubt that they are assiduously assessing the situation and making the necessary decisions in relation to that. Where there have been conversations where I and colleagues have a locus, and indeed all of us do, is to do everything that we can in terms of supporting the best community relations that we can here. Unfortunately, we have been able to see in some other parts of Europe, in some other parts of the world, where that is being sorely tested. We need to do everything that we can to support Scotland's Jewish community, to work with our Muslim community, especially people of Palestinian descent. It's very important that we do everything that we can to ensure that, whilst what is happening in the Middle East is a tragedy, it shouldn't lead to a worsening of community relations here. On that, it's fair to say that you have acknowledged that in your statement that both Jewish communities and Muslim communities in Scotland will be feeling particularly vulnerable. If I could ask for a bit more detail, what in particular is the Scottish Government doing to support those communities? I think that the first thing is to have very intense points of contact with both communities. The First Minister, as members of the committee will be aware, visited the synagogue in Gifnwch. It has been to a number of mosques. There are initiatives that are being supported via the interfaith organisation that brings together not just the Jewish and Muslim faith leaders but Christian denominations and others. Communications are very intense to work out what it is that can be done. I'm very mindful, and I have raised this with colleagues, that we are approaching high and holy days for a number of faith communities in the weeks and months ahead. We have to make sure that our communities are able to celebrate important days on their religious calendar without any fear or concern. I think that making sure that we are talking as much as we can as a Government but also as parliamentarians and community leaders in our own rights. I'm looking to all members of the committee, and I look to all colleagues in the Scottish Parliament across the parties. We all have a role to play in that, and notwithstanding the severity of the situation, the challenges that we know are potentially faced and, sadly, some of the examples internationally of those relations being tested very sorely, I think that we just need to remain very focused on doing everything that we can to try to maintain the best community relations that we can hear. As well as being vigilant as ever as to any rising incidents of antisemitism or anti-Islamic sentiment, we should acknowledge the fact that people in Scotland haven't by-mards gone down that route. We have to be very quick to condemn, but we should also praise. However, viewed from a distance to see the Hamas attack over 1,000 people killed in the first week in October, and then to see over 8,000 people in Gaza killed in particular, the incidents where one Hamas commander was killed but 400 people were killed in that process, and many others still lying under rubble, including children. The horror that people feel about that is one thing, but I suppose that my concern is, and I don't know the extent to which the Scottish Government will have any information or a view on this, is, for example, overnight the threat from Hezbollah to start attacking tomorrow if there is not a ceasefire, I think, of the terms that they are trying to lay down. With, I think, the largest American naval fleet since the Second World War being stationed in the Middle East, the real worry is that this becomes a genuinely geopolitical conflagration, which goes off in different directions. I don't know whether the Scottish Government has got any line of sight on any of the thinking behind that of what's been done to prevent that from happening. I think that Mr Brown is absolutely correct that there is real concern in the international community about the potential for a widening of what is already an appalling situation. Yes, he's absolutely right to point to the risks of escalation in relation to Lebanon and Israel, and there is shooting between Hezbollah and the Israeli Defence Forces. There's a feeling that every day that that is ratcheting up. Yesterday, the Yemeni armed forces launched missiles in the direction of Israel, and there are other organisations in and around Israel that would be close to the Iranian Government. I think that international governments not least the United States of America that is able to exercise significant diplomatic but also military presence is very focused on trying to make sure that there isn't a wider escalation in the conflict. The Scottish Government doesn't have a direct locus in that, but I think that the position that we would take would be to be supportive of UK diplomatic efforts and those of the international community to do everything to seek to ensure that there isn't a widening of the conflict. I don't need to tell this committee nor to anybody watching these proceedings that the situation in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel has been long and troubled, and there have been wars involving neighbouring countries as well. The risks are there in plain sight, so anything that can be done to help to avoid an escalation is one that we would be supportive of, and we would encourage those with a locus too, and an ability to emphasise restraint on all parties would be welcomed. My thoughts go out to all those people affected by the loss of innocent civilian life in Israel, in Palestine and all those with loved ones in the region, including the First Minister and her thoughts and support with the First Minister. On the number of families affected by the current conflict in Scotland, I would like to ask you what dialogue the Scottish Government has had with the British Government to estimate as far as it can be done in a very difficult and challenging situation, the number of UK nationals from Scotland who are currently in Israel and Gaza and what assessment as far as it can be made appreciating the very difficult situation about their welfare just now and what more can be done to get a better understanding of the situation affecting UK nationals from Scotland in the region. I think that those are questions that were raised by the First Minister in his discussion with the Prime Minister, and I think that at that stage, the UK Government and the Foreign Conwealth office, it was not clear at that stage how many Scots residents are amongst the UK contingent or among UK passports. I think that the UK Government has an idea about the total number of UK passports holders in Gaza because we do not record residency as a matter of course. I think that that is the reason why there is not a definitive answer to that question. In terms of the UK effort on the ground, I think that I am right in saying that UK nationals, so far as they are identified to the FCDO, are being updated. I think that this is complicated by the fact that, as has been widely reported, telecommunications have been subject to interruption. Up until now, because the RAFAC border crossing has not been open, people have been informed that they are unable to leave. Since yesterday, there are the beginnings of lists being posted highlighting which nationals are able to leave on a day-to-day basis. I have no doubt that the FCDO teams on the ground will be involved in the process of trying to inform people about how and when they are able to depart, all complicated by the fact that, while the Israeli military focus is largely in northern Gaza, there are still airstrikes and artillery around southern Gaza, which will make the journey to RAFAC dangerous. As soon as there is any further update, I can give a commitment to the committee. That is maybe a takeaway that we can ask for an update given that we now have this change of circumstance with the beginnings of people being able to leave so that we can best inform you about what the FCDO take is on the process that is helping people to get out how they are being informed about that, how they can be informed if there continues to be a break in communications, and we will make sure that committee members are provided with that as soon as we get that from the FCDO. I would like to go back to the issue of escalation. The First Minister's letter from last week rightly focuses in on the situation in Gaza, but we are aware that, within the West Bank, there is increasing news reports of the legal displacement of Palestinians and that there could be an unfolding humanitarian crisis there, potentially in time. What is your assessment of that? How does that impact on the Scottish Government's response, whether it is through a forthcoming resettlement scheme or other humanitarian efforts? Are you factoring in the potential for much more of a crisis that goes beyond what we are seeing in Gaza at the moment? I think that Mr Ruskell is absolutely right that we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that there are very testing and difficult circumstances in the West Bank, which is occupied Palestinian territory. It's not just the displacement of Palestinians, it's involved the deaths of Palestinians in recent days. The circumstances for people there are extremely difficult. Positioning the Scottish Government remains, as it has always been, that the West Bank and Gaza Strip form the basis of Palestinian territories, which we believe should be part of a two-state solution. A solution that can help to provide security both for the people of Israel and the independence and security for the people of Palestine. We will use whatever influence that we can. This is maybe an opportunity to make those points that Mr Ruskell has and I have and not lose sight of the fact that notwithstanding the very understandable focus on Gaza. The challenges for people in the West Bank continue to be substantive. The Israeli authorities, as they occupy power, have a responsibility to ensure the life, liberty and security of Palestinian people in the West Bank and not just Israeli citizens. It's definitely something that we will continue to monitor. There are a number of communities across Scotland that have got formal civic links with communities in Palestine. I noted that Dundee's twin with Nablus, Glasgow's twin with Bethlehem Stirling, has had an informal twinning with a refugee community within Jerusalem. I'm wondering to what extent these informal and more civic links can be used to address the humanitarian crisis that could unfold. The situation in Gaza is obviously very different to that of the West Bank in that there's a war going on there and the ability to get any kind of supplies into Gaza is extremely restricted. I think that that's one of the things that's caused real distress to the United Nations and its agencies that a very, very small proportion of humanitarian supplies, whether that's food, whether that's oil supplies, which is required to maintain the generators for hospitals and other public services, are still only getting in as a tiny percentage of that, which the likes of UNRWA calculates is required. The situation in the West Bank, which Mr Ruskell has named a number of town cities and communities there, are any different situation. They are not in the same war situation as Gaza is at the present time. So I'm sure that communities in Scotland that have links there will be thinking a lot about what it is that they can be doing in exactly the same way as the Scottish Government has been thinking about what it is that we can do to help people in distress. That's why we've been supportive of the United Nations. They are the ones who have the organisation on the ground. They are the ones who are best able to calculate how best to provide support. I would encourage local authorities that have links with communities to avail themselves of the likes of UNRWA, which is the United Nations agency that is responsible for helping support Palestinians in the Near East. That's a primary point of contact, but there are many others that have an established record of working in the West Bank and indeed in the past in Gaza too. I think that Ivan McKee in 2021 restated Government guidance at the time in relation to public procurement. It is following on from a report from the UN Human Rights Office, which identified around 100 companies that had activities that were related to illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine and the implications for that in terms of seeking peace. I think that guidance was restated, but can you confirm what the current status is of that guidance? I'm not aware that there's been any change in guidance, but if it would be helpful to Mr Ruskell, I'll make sure that I can forward on to him through you, convener, the status of that. As I've just said, I'm not aware that there haven't been any change in guidance in that question. Cabinet Secretary, I'd like others to recognise the volatility that we find ourselves in at the present time, the humanitarian crisis that's unfolding day by day. I pay tribute to the United Nations and to the aid agencies that are trying to unravel and support as much as they can. The UK Government announced an increase in aid to help, and that has been confirmed. It would be useful to find out what the Scottish Government and the UK Government are doing regarding their trying to increase aid to support the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in the region. As I confirmed in my opening statement that in addition to our already announced commitment of £0.5 million of support for the people of Gaza through UNRWA, that amount of money has been raised, so it's now going to stand at a total of £750,000. The United Kingdom has also announced humanitarian aid support. Members of the public who are wanting to be supportive need to know that there are a range of organisations, not least UNRWA, that can be supported. They have launched a flash appeal, but there is also in addition the likes of the Red Cross Red Crescent Society, which is very involved in the ground, that would also be seeking to raise funds to deal with the scale of the crisis. It's a good opportunity to underline what we are able to do as a Government, what the UK is able to do as a Government, but also what members of the public are able to do. One of the hopes is that in the days ahead, and I know that there's a lot of diplomatic effort behind the scenes to try and make this possible, is to try and get supplies in. It's not just a question of being able to open the Rafa crossing, but because of the level of destruction that there is in Gaza, it's also extremely difficult to get those supplies to different parts of Gaza too, so it's a very complicated situation. As you identify, there are well-coordinated emergency response appeal mechanisms, and I think that it's good to highlight that because they are there to support. In many individuals and organisations, and as you've heard, Ares and Scotland are twinned with and want to support, so they can also tap into that resource and try and support as much as they can. But there are also some that are potentially could be problematic, and advice needs to be given as to how you can manage that, because with all of those things, there are individual organisations that want to try and, and I think that there's an element of that too that needs to be captured to ensure that we don't end up supporting or maybe not meaning to, but in ways and means that can be misconstrued in some ways. And it would be useful to see if there is the advice that the Scottish Government does provide or is there a template to ensure that there isn't any of that potential. I think that we can rest on the fact that the likes of the United Nations and the likes of the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies have impeccable records, and they have the strongest infrastructure on the ground. So no doubt there are other organisations that are extremely capable, I think of Islamic Relief, for example, as an organisation that's very active in Scotland, and no doubt there will be other faith-based charities as well. And others that are very well-established, unimpeachable, and I think so long as people are supporting those well-known and well-trusted organisations, then I think there's little reason to worry. Nothing has been raised with me that gives me a concern, but should there be, I will make sure that the committee is updated. I think that if anything is true of this particular situation, it is that it is phenomenally complex. I think that all of us have been hugely devastated by the scenes that have unfolded. The thought that there are still Israeli children in captivity in Gaza right now, their welfare, their care, their separation from their family is just horrendous. Equally, I saw a video yesterday and we'll all have been consumed by watching this of a mother in Gaza gently rocking a baby covered in a white sheet. I think that if anything is to emerge from this current horror, it is the resolution of hostilities once and for all. Parallels have obviously been drawn with other fairly recent historic situations where hostilities have been concluded and now there is peace. Of course, that requires states and governments to be very careful not to inflame the current hostilities and to make very intelligent strategic calls for action, both during this current war and beyond. I wondered in light of that and recognising that, as a devolved Government, there is still a power of intervention, as the people of Scotland look to us for leadership, but also in terms of navigating the challenges. In making statements or calls for action, what expertise can the Scottish Government call on? What intelligence can they draw on? Are there people who are either situated in Scotland or beyond who are experts in the field that can inform the Scottish Government? Therefore, the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary's calls for particular interventions or actions. There are a lot of questions about parents and children. It is heartbreaking and the feeling of powerlessness. I think that we have to ask ourselves how many children have to die before it stops, because it can't go on forever. All conflicts mean to my knowledge, at some point they come to an end no matter how appalling and complex. I think if we think back and we think about situations where resolution was thought to be impossible or unimaginable or so far off, whether in South Africa or Northern Ireland, or indeed I think back to the Middle East and we think back to efforts in the 1990s, again thought to be unimaginable at the time. I think that something that the international community does need to look at itself in the mirror and ask itself has enough been done between then and now, and I think that we all have to be self-critical and self-evidently not enough has been done. It is an unresolved conflict situation and there is more that we can do. What can a small country in Northern Europe with five million people do in such a circumstance? We will firstly be conscious that one does have agency and if we think of some of the most testing conflicts where there have been peace processes, if we think about the role of Norway or the role of Finland, we recently saw the passing of President Marty Attisari who played a big role in peace processes, we think of the roles that were played in countries like Sri Lanka. We see that these Northern European nations, indeed our own, have been host to meetings where one has sought to try and further peace processes whether that was the talks in St Andrews in relation to Northern Ireland. I have some experience myself in this area having hosted the first ever peace talks outside the former Soviet Union involving Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. It is true to say that Scotland can offer something even if it is just a place for people to meet in private or in other circumstances. She asks about people and capability. We need to be conscious that we have people with very significant experience in this area, not least Mark Muller, who many members will know because of his role in Beyond Borders. He works at a track warehouse in the Borders and his involvement with UN conflict resolution. We have very deep and very capable academic expertise in this area. We have recently seen the foundation of the Scottish Council for Global Affairs that involves very well internationally respected academics in the field of international relations in peace and security. I think that there are a wide sector of organisations that would wish to be supportive and helpful. That can only work if people involved in a particular conflict realise that the time has come for peace. Prime Minister Netanyahu does not think that. He thinks that now is the time for war, is how he put it, quoting the Bible. We can wish for peace and we can wish for ceasefires and we can call for that. If those are going to be ignored, then unfortunately the killing and the dying and lots of parents losing children will continue and they deserve better. The First Minister said in his statement to Parliament that the Scottish Government stands ready to welcome refugees from the region. Can I ask if the cabinet secretary has any further detail on what preparations might be being made here? Secondly, given the experience of the Ukrainian situation in the last few years, which this committee was heavily involved in in parliamentary scrutiny of that, what lessons have been learnt from that that could be applied to any refugees arriving from the region in Scotland? The offer of help and support for refugees, potentially from the conflict, was outlined in a detailed letter from Shirley-Anne Somerville to the Home Secretary, Swilla Braverman. With a view to trying to initiate these kinds of conversations to get into discussions, officials from the Scottish Government with the Home Office and others, to begin that process of how might one manage such a process and how could one best do such a thing. I think that Mr Cameron is absolutely right. There is a context in as much as we have experience in all of that, which is a good thing. Every situation that involves refugees arriving is by their very nature different. I think that one of the big differences in this conflict, compared to Ukraine, is in Ukraine whether people were living in non-occupied territories had a way out. That is not the case for people in Gaza at the present time who are not able to leave Gaza. I do not think that anybody is anticipating that there is going to be a sudden and dramatic movement of people. In fact, Governments in the region have, over the years and decades, been very clear that they do not want to see the displacement of Palestinians outside the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. I think that we are right to say to colleagues in UK Government departments that we wish to begin having those technical discussions, and hopefully those that offer will be taken up in those discussions can take place, because they should take place. I think that what is probably more likely in the immediate period is given the scale of casualties that there are, and the inability of the health system in Gaza to deal with them. I think that it has to be a priority for everybody that those most seriously injured who are not able to be treated in Gaza that one should seek to try to help and support, in the first instance, the Egyptian authorities and the Egyptian health system. They have set up an emergency medical facility very close to the Rafa border crossing to do things close to where people are with injuries, but it may be that there are very serious cases where advanced medical intervention could be better provided by countries. That might include our own. That is something that, in addition to any preparations for helping refugees, is something that we should be very alive to, because we have an excellent health service and there is very considerable experience. I think that we should do our best to help people who are in need of medical support as well as those who are seeking refuge. The Parliament has a long-standing support for the people of Gaza. I am thinking back to 2009, when the Government provided £400,000 to Libya and Gaza for water security at that time when tensions were high yet again. I understand that the £750,000 going through UNRWA and the Government have committed that money. If I think of our long-standing relationship with Malawi, there are great civic links with some of the organisations within the community. The Scottish Government has strong links with the aid agencies working in Malawi because of the principle of giving the money directly to the aid agencies on the ground. If that network exists within the Government for Gaza, have your officials been reaching out or have any of those agencies and civic organisations come back seeking support in Scotland? I would have to discuss the detail of which organisations above and beyond the United Nations relief works agency, UNRWA, which is the principle agency for the international community. We have had links with and continue to have links with. I think that what we all appreciate is because of the extreme nature of the circumstance and the extreme distress in which people in Gaza are finding themselves. It is primarily UNRWA, the UN agency that has the capability. We should put on the record having to pay an incredibly high price for their efforts on the ground. I think that I am right in saying that there are more than 70 members of UNRWA staff who have died since the beginning of this recent conflict. We are trying to maintain the places of safety that they have, but also to ensure that the supplies get to the warehouses so that one is able to distribute them. That is why our principal focus is through UNRWA, which has launched the flash appeal. However, we will keep our relationship with other charities and third sector organisations, in particular those with which we have an established relationship with under constant review. We will try to ensure that what is ultimately taxpayer money is spent as well as can possibly be spent in these kind of circumstances. I am sure that people out there will be welcoming of the fact that we are doing what we can and others are doing what they can to support the UNRWA. Our agencies do what they can on the ground to help people who do not have food, who do not have drinking water, who often now do not have shelter and many do not have hope. We need to be doing everything that we possibly can and we intend to continue doing so. Cabinet Secretary, I am sure that the whole committee will be wishing for a peaceful resolution release of hostages and a ceasefire as quickly as possible. Thank you for your attendance this morning.