Scotland suspends 'all meetings' with Israeli officials until Gaza achieves peace

Scotland's government has announced it will not hold any meetings with Israeli officials unless "real progress" is made towards achieving a ceasefire in Gaza.

The decision was made in response to criticism faced by Scotland’s External Affairs Secretary, Angus Robertson, after his meeting with Israel’s Deputy Ambassador to the UK, Daniela Grudsky.

The backlash came from members of the Scottish National Party (SNP), which currently governs Scotland and is highly critical of Israeli actions in Gaza.

In response to the criticism, Robertson apologised and stated that the Scottish government would not accept further invitations from Israel until it demonstrates genuine efforts towards peace and humanitarian aid in Gaza and "co-operates fully with its international obligations on the investigation of genocide and war crimes".

"My view was that given the Israeli UK Deputy Ambassador had requested a meeting it was an opportunity to express the Scottish government's clear and unwavering position on the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and I did exactly that," Robertson explained.

The Scottish lawmaker met with the Israeli official on August 8, but the government released a statement about the meeting three days later. 

Robertson maintained that the Israeli embassy delayed a statement about the meeting citing security reasons.