GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL has overwhelmingly backed an Israeli arms embargo and voted to cut any links with occupation profiteers.

Scotland’s largest local authority came close to unanimity at its full council meeting on Thursday as Green, Labour and SNP councillors backed a motion not only expressing solidarity with the people of Palestine, but setting out actions to put it into practice.

The city, which is twinned with Bethlehem, backed Scottish government calls for an arms embargo on Israel, but challenged First Minister Humza Yousaf to do all he could to halt arms supples to Israel and its allies from Scotland.

Closer to home, the motion committed the council to widen “the present human rights due diligence process” used for the award of council contracts to “assure itself of supply chains that do not conflict with international humanitarian law.”

It also called for all organisations seeking contracts with the council to “provide an assurance of best practice in relation to their operations to satisfy the council they are not engaging in grave professional misconduct by operating in a manner that breaches … human rights.”

It further instructed officers to prepare a report on all goods and services bought by the council “wholly or partially manufactured, assembled, or operated by companies operating in the occupied territories as per the updated UN database of business enterprises in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

The two-man Tory group countered with an amendment, which welcomed the UN security council’s recent resolution for an immediate ceasefire but offering no action.

After a series of impassioned speeches from across the political parties, the Green mover of the motion, Leodhas Massie, accepted minor amendments from Labour and SNP and his motion passed by 73-2 as the chambers echoed to the cry of “Ceasefire now!”