Humza Yousaf will speak in Holyrood for the first time this week since his tearful exit from Bute House almost two months ago.

Mr Yousaf will lead a debate on Wednesday calling for the Scottish Parliament to urge the UK Government to give "immediate recognition to the state of Palestine".

It is a cause close to his heart after his parents-in-law were trapped while visiting family members in Gaza as it came under bombardment from the Israeli military as revenge for the October 7 attack by Hamas.

Since the start of the war 37431 people have been killed in Gaza including 15000 children, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health. while the 1,139 lives have been lost in Israel.

The former First Minister received praise across the political divide of how he responded during a time of immense worry. He was also respected for attending a service of solidarity at Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue for Bernard Cowan, a Scot killed in the Hamas attack, comforting Mr Cowan's mother while his wife Nadia's parents were stuck in Gaza. The couple eventually managed to make it to safety to Egypt and return to Scotland.

Mr Yousaf and Mr Cowan’s mother were pictured embracing each other during the service and he told Mr Cowan's family “your grief is my grief”. 

Posting to social media, the First Minister wrote at the time: “Bernard's mother and family went out of their way to tell me that they would be praying for my family in Gaza. We hugged, we cried, and we promised to re-dedicate ourselves to peace and to be unequivocal; no innocent man, woman, or child should pay the price of another's actions.”  

His motion being debated in the chamber points out that Ireland, Spain and Norway are among 144 member states of the United Nations which recognise Palestine as a sovereign state and says that "a two-state solution is the only viable path for peace between Israel and Palestine, and that there can only be a two-state solution if a sovereign Palestinian state is immediately recognised and co-exists alongside Israel".

Mr Yousaf stepped down suddenly following the collapse of the power sharing arrangement with the Scottish Greens and ahead of a no confidence motion that he was set to lose.

He announced his resingnatoin as First Minister in a tearful speech at Bute House on April 29 and made a personal statement to the Scottish Parliament on May 7 after John Swinney succeeded him as SNP leader and First Minister without a contest.

Mr Yousaf, who like his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon, is now a backbench SNP MSP, has not spoken in Holyrood since then and does not sit on any parliamentary committees. He has not had a prominent role in the SNP's general election campaign.

The motion tabled by Mr Yousaf ahead of the debate has so far been signed by 15 SNP MSPs and three Scottish Labour MSPs including former party leader Richard Leonard. However, no MSP from the Scottish Greens has signed it to date despite sharing Mr Yousaf's belief in the need to recognise Palestine as a sovereign state.

It goes on to say "that Palestinian statehood is an inalienable right of the people of Palestine, not a privilege that can be vetoed by others" and "notes in horror the continued suffering of the people of Gaza".

It commends aid organisations and community groups across Scotland, including in Mr Yousaf's Glasgow Pollok, "which are donating funds and sending aid to ease the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza".

And it also urges Holyrood to note "the calls urging the Government of Israel to allow unimpeded access to Gaza for humanitarian aid, and further notes the calls for an immediate ceasefire, an end to arms sales to Israel and the immediate release of all hostages."

His debate on Palestine this week is in line with the plans he set out for the future in his farewell statement on May 7 where he promised the Presiding Officer to be "a model backbencher" adding as a joke "at least for a few weeks".

He told parliament in his speech then: "I will take some time to re-familiarise myself with the back benches. I intend to be an active contributor to the Parliament, as my constituents would expect, and I will continue to champion those issues that are close to my heart—ensuring that I give a voice to the voiceless, be they at home or overseas.

"In that vein, I cannot let today’s remarks go by without pleading one last time from the front benches for the international community to stop any further massacre of the innocent people of Gaza. A full-scale invasion of Rafah, which is home to 1.4 million people, including 600,000 children, will result only in the slaughter of more innocent civilians in what is likely to be one of the clearest violations to date of international law.

"A clear signal must be sent to the Israeli Government that to defy the international community in that way will come with significant consequence and sanction. Everything possible must be done to demand an immediate ceasefire, a release of all the hostages and an end to arms sales to Israel. We must be on the right side of history, which must mean standing with innocent men, women and children. To do otherwise would be unforgivable."

Palestine encompasses two disconnected parts  — the West Bank and Gaza - with the territory sharing its borders with Israel to north, west and south, Jordan to the east and Egypt to the southwest. 

It has a population of more than five million people. Gaza City was its largest city until Israel launched its military action in Gaza in October last year.