Condemnation of Hamas Attacks Against Israel

That the Parliament unequivocally condemns what it considers the barbaric attacks launched against the State of Israel from Gaza by the proscribed terrorist group, Hamas; recognises that, on 7 October 2023, members of Hamas reportedly made their way past the perimeter fence at Gaza and crossed into southern Israel on motorbikes, paragliders and by sea; understands that they murdered individuals and families at home and captured women, children and elderly and disabled people and forcibly removed innocent civilians from Israel and took them into Gaza; notes that videos and images on social media highlight the reported atrocities committed by Hamas with, it understands, footage and photographs showing the corpses of murdered civilians, some of whom had their bodies abused and paraded through the streets; understands that over 3,000 rockets were launched at towns and cities in democratic Israel as part of the attacks and, under the guise of intense rocket fire, the attackers had reportedly murdered more than 700 people in Israel by the evening of 8 October, and regrets the near inevitably that there will be further casualties; recognises that the attacks were launched by Hamas on the Shabbat and the Jewish festivals of Sukkot and Simchat Torah; believes that the murderous actions of Saturday represent the deadliest day of violence in Israel since the Yom Kippur War 50 years ago; considers that political leaders in all four nations of the UK and across the Western world must unreservedly denounce this activity as an act of terror against democratic Israel; believes that, in the same manner as all other nation states across the globe, there can be no question that Israel has the right to defend its country and people; considers that the attacks from Hamas are a futile attempt to undermine the efforts made towards securing peace across the region as Israel and a number of Arab countries take forward collaborative work to secure a future of shared prosperity; believes that the Abraham Accords, which are a declaration and series of agreements geared towards the normalisation of bilateral relations between Israel and Arab states, have already demonstrated that a peaceful future for the region can be achieved; welcomes what it sees as the historic opportunity presented by the Abraham Accords and calls for these efforts to be further strengthened; condemns unreservedly any activity, such as demonstrations, that takes place in Scotland and other parts of the UK in support of what it considers the barbaric actions of Hamas; reinforces what it sees as the importance of Scotland and the wider UK standing shoulder to shoulder with Jewish communities, and considers that a zero-tolerance approach must be adopted towards any incidents of antisemitism within the borders of this country.