That brings to an end our live coverage of the debate on the situation in the Middle East.

MSPs backed Humza Yousaf's motion to the Scottish Parliament by 90 votes to 28 to call for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict.

The motion won the support of all parties except the Conservatives.

Ahead of the debate, Scotland's first minister urged the UK government to recognise a Palestinian state.

In a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Humza Yousaf said the move would help to end the "political impasse" in the Middle East.

Today's live page editor was Paul McLaren. The writers were Craig Hutchison and Megan Bonar.

MSPs back calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, after a moving and largely consensual debate at Holyrood.

91 MSPs backed the Scottish Labour amendment and 90 the amended Scottish government motion, with 28 MSPs voting against both.

The Scottish Tory amendment was defeated, with 28 MSPs backing it and with 89 voting against it.

MSPs will now vote on the motion and amendments from the debate on the situation in the Middle East.

We're now moving into the closing speeches of what has been a largely consensual, emotional and eloquent debate.

Here's a reminder of the key points from today's debate before we get to the vote at decision time:

• Humza Yousaf set the tone, stressing "all human life is equal"
• The first minister said "collective punishment can never be justified"
• He called for an "immediate ceasefire agreed by all sides"
• Donald Cameron stressed Israel must have the right to defend itself
• The Tory MSP pointed out Holyrood had failed to do "anything meaningful" to acknoweldge the Hamas attack of 7 October
• He stresses for a ceasefire to work it must be observed by both sides and Hamas won't back one, so his party cannot back calls for an immediate ceasefire
• For Labour, Anas Sarwar lent on his personal experience of visiting the Gaza Strip in 2008
• The Scottish Labour leader said his party would be voting for an immediate ceasefire but stressed all sides must be willing to comply
• The Lib Dems also called for a "bi-lateral ceasefire"
• Alex Cole-Hamilton said "Hamas cannot be allowed to continue in charge of Gaza" and said he would not press his party's amendment

'Indescribable pain' of man in public gallerypublished at 16:43 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2023

16:43 GMT 21 November 2023

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

One of the people watching this debate from the public gallery at Holyrood is Dr Ibrahim Khadra from Strathclyde University’s Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences.

He has previously said 70 members of his extended family have been killed in the Gaza attacks.

The first minister said his pain was indescribable.

'I've lost 42 members of my family in Gaza attacks'

Pauline McNeill tells the chamber: "The only way for Israel to live within its secure borders, and for peace for ordinary Israelis, which I would want, is for the international community to press Israel to withdraw from the occupation and for there to be a dialogue for an end-game which does mean there are two sovereign states.

"It is the only way forward and it is the only way for peace," the Labour MSP says.

She agrees with the first minister that the state of Palestine must be recognised right now.

Tory MSP Megan Gallacher reads out the names and ages of many of the 200-plus people who were taken hostage by Hamas and brought from Israel to Gaza.

It takes her a full five minutes as she pays tribute to dozens of men, women and children.

The MSP says every one of them - and all the people caught up in the conflict - are in her thoughts today.

Main parties at Westminster criticised for lack of supportpublished at 16:24 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2023

16:24 GMT 21 November 2023

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

SNP MSP for Glasgow Kelvin Kaukab Stewart, criticises the lack of leadership shown by the the two main parties at Westminster on the Gaza issue.

She says the fact Scottish Labour and Conservative MPs had not supported the calls for a ceasefire had been described by Amnesty International as a missed opportunity.

Image source, bbc

Ross Greer begins by saying it's a lie to say every life is equal in this world.

The Scottish Green MSP says his party mourns the loss of every innocent life.

"Terrorism is to be condemned, regardless of who is responsible."

He goes into historic detail to point out that terrorists are not all on one side.

Greer asks why "so many of Israel's defenders find it impossible to condemn the state terrorism of this government and those that have preceded it since 1949".

The killing must stop and not pause, he insists, and he reads out emotional messages from LGBTQ Gazans.

He concludes saying: "One message will come from this parliament - ceasefire now."

"You can support the right of Israel to defend itself within the bounds of international law and at the same time support the right of the Palestinian people." says Alex Cole-Hamilton.

He says the views are not "mutually exclusive".

He adds the "road to peace seems vanishingly far away right now but it is a road we can and must rejoin".

Cross-party agreementpublished at 15:51 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2023

15:51 GMT 21 November 2023

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

There’s clearly a desire from MSPs for the Scottish Parliament to speak with as unified a voice as possible on Gaza.

The Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton says he won’t press his party’s amendment to the vote.

And though the Conservatives won’t back the motion supporting an immediate ceasefire, calling instead for humanitarian pauses to allow aid to be delivered safely, the party agreed with the wording abhorring the loss of innocent lives and affirming the right of all Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security.

Tory Donald Cameron paid tribute to Humza Yousaf’s eloquence and praised him for grieving with the Jewish community.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex-Cole Hamilton says his party is calling for an “immediate bi-lateral ceasefire”.

His motion goes further than a ceasefire and states that “Hamas cannot be allowed to continue in charge of Gaza".

He says while a ceasefire is “clearly needed now” it is only a temporary solution and allowing Hamas to remain in charge would “would not allow a future possibility of peace”.

The Scottish Labour leader says "peace will only come through a political process".

Sarwar tells the chamber of his visit to the Gaza Strip in 2008 and the impact it had on him.

He says, 15 years on, the situation in Gaza has got worse not better.

"Frankly it shames the entire world."

He adds there is no place in our society for any form of prejudice or hate.

Sarwar concludes it is only if we see every life as equal that we will see peace in the Middle East.

Sarwar says four things must happen immediately: a ceasefire, the immediate release of hostages, access to humanitarian aid and a pathway to a peace process.

Withholding humanitarian aid is a breach of international law, he adds.

The Scottish Labour leader says: "For a ceasefire to work, all sides must be willing to comply."

He says the full force of international diplomacy must be used to create the conditions for an immediate ceasefire.

The Labour amendment calls for the International Criminal Court to investigate the actions of all sides in this conflict.

It is now the turn of Anas Sarwar to speak in the debate.

The Scottish Labour leader says: "We have all been absolutely horrifed by the tragic scenes we've seen on our television scenes."

He tells the chamber: "At times, it's felt as if humanity is dying before our very eyes."

"Today, Scottish Labour will be voting for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East, because it is vital that we see a cessation of all violence."

Personal experience for Sarwarpublished at 15:35 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2023

15:35 GMT 21 November 2023

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

In his speech, the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar drew on his own personal experience of visiting the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, in 2008.

He was among a group, including the Labour MSP Pauline McNeill, who delivered a generator to the hospital.

Sarwar told MSPs that they wept as they witnessed first hand incubators which didn’t work because of a lack of resource.

He said the fact that 15 years on, the situation was not better but worse, and it was a failure of the international community.

The Conservative MSP says his party does not agree with calls for an immediate ceasefire.

Cameron says while his party “abhors” the loss of innocent lives in this conflict, in order for a ceasefire to work it needs to be backed by both sides.

He adds: “Regrettably, It has been clear for some time now that Hamas will not respect a ceasefire”.

The maturity of the debate stands outpublished at 15:29 Greenwich Mean Time 21 November 2023

15:29 GMT 21 November 2023

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

It is notable how eloquent MSPs can be when they are debating big issues which are beyond the powers of the Scottish Parliament.

The speeches so far have been serious and thoughtful, without some of the petty party politicking which undermines differences of opinion on domestic matters.

Donald Cameron applauds the actions of the first minister for condemning the Hamas attack of 7 October, but he says the Scottish Parliament failed to do “anything meaningful” to acknowledge the attack.

The Conservative MSP says the parliament “did nothing, said nothing, we did not even lower a flag".

He says the European Parliament and the UK Parliament both flew the Israeli flag in the aftermath.

He said: “This wasn’t about taking sides, or being partisan, it was simply about acknowledging the devastating and tragic loss of life as a result of a terrorist attack.”

The Scottish Conservatives' Donald Cameron is next to speak. He introduces an amendment to the Scottish Government's motion.

He says there is "broad areas of common agreement” within the Scottish Parliament, but the main difference is his motion includes an addition backing “Israel’s right to defend itself against terror".

Mr Cameron says there are differing views between parties on calls for a ceasefire. His amendment states a "credible, lasting and sustainable peace can only be based on the two-state solution through reinvigorated diplomatic and political efforts in the Middle East peace process.”