An SNP MSP has been attacked by members of his own party after his reaction to Angus Robertson's meeting with the deputy ambassador of Israel.

Mr Robertson met with Daniela Grudsky in Edinburgh last week, sparking anger from within the party, which has consistently called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

MSP John Mason also met with Ms Grudsky, and on Friday night sparked further controversy with a social media post relating to the visit.

Former SNP MSP Sandra White replied to a post on X, formerly Twitter, by The Herald saying "We know what Israelis hope to achieve they are already committing Genocide in Gaza. Talk? You mention Talk whilst innocent children are being massacred."

Mr Mason, the member for Glasgow Shettleston, replied: "If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they would have killed ten times as many."

Israel has been accused of committing genocide against Palestinians in its war in the Gaza Strip, which came after the October 7 attacks.

Gaza is defined as an occupied territory by the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and the UK government. Israel controls the territory's airspace and territorial waters, as well as all cargo and goods entering the enclave.

There is only one border crossing point, at Rafah on the border with Egypt, through which people can cross that is not controlled by Israel.

South Africa has brought a case before the International Court of Justice accusing the nation of contravening the UN genocide convention.

In January the court issued an order to "take all measures to prevent" acts which would contravene the convention but did not order it to halt its military offensive.

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Israel was later accused by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International of failing to comply with the orders.

Heba Morayef, regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International said: "As the occupying power, under international law, Israel has a clear obligation to ensure the basic needs of Gaza’s population are met.

"Israel has not only woefully failed to provide for Gazans’ basic needs, but it has also been blocking and impeding the passage of sufficient aid into the Gaza Strip, in particular to the north which is virtually inaccessible, in a clear show of contempt for the ICJ ruling and in flagrant violation of its obligation to prevent genocide.”

In May the ICJ went further, ordering Israel to halt its offensive on the southern city of Rafah, an order with which the nation did not comply.

A final ruling by the court as to whether Israel is guilty of genocide is not expected for several years.

However, there is no provision in the UN genocide convention relating to number of deaths.

The Srebrenica massacre was the first legally-recognised genocide since the end of World War II, in which more than 8,000 Bosniak muslims were murdered. More than 40,000 have been killed in the occupied Gaza Strip since the outbreak of war.

Mr Mason's comments sparked criticism from members of his own party.

Ian Blackford, the former Westminster leader, wrote: "Forty thousand plus dead in Gaza and you tweet this. You are not fit for public office. You are an embarrassment and not fit to represent anyone. You glorify killing and murder with your obtuse comment. Just go and do it now."

David Birkett, the SNP's Peterhead organiser said: "There's being a wee bit out of touch and then there's being outright thoughtless and offensive.

"I'm not keen on sharing the SNP with John anymore."

James Dornan, MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, posted: "Oh John give it a rest man. That’s a disgraceful tweet."

The meetings have also been criticised by SNP Friends of Palestine, the group headed by Nadia El-Nakla, the wife of former First Minister Humza Yousaf.

They said: "While we know Mr Robertson called for a ceasefire, we cannot condone his statement advocating for further co-operation between Scotland and Israel, especially while Israel continues its genocide in Gaza and ongoing persecution of Palestinians in the West Bank.

“The PM of Israel has an arrest warrant from the ICC [International Criminal Court] pending and the ICJ are continuing their investigation into the genocide in Palestine by Israel.

"We cannot, and should not have normal relations with Israel. We would urge the party to issue an apology and a guarantee, especially for our Palestinian citizens, that this normalisation of the state of Israel will not happen again.”

The SNP later announced it had withdrawn the whip with immediate effect.

A spokesperson said: "To flippantly dismiss the death of more than 40,000 Palestinians is completely unacceptable. There can be no room in the SNP for this kind of intolerance.

"The chief whip has today withdrawn the whip from John Mason MSP with immediate effect, pending internal Parliamentary Group due process.

"The SNP Group will now meet to discuss the matter, with a recommendation that the whip be suspended from John Mason for a fixed period of time because of this utterly abhorrent comment."