Scotland’s first minister says he is “worried sick” for his wife’s parents who are in Gaza visiting family.
Scotland’s first minister says his parents-in-law are “trapped” in Gaza, as he unequivocally condemned the attacks by Hamas in Israel.
Humza Yousaf said his wife’s parents, who live in Dundee, travelled to Gaza to see her sick grandmother.
The Israelis have told them to leave but Mr Yousaf said they have no way to get out and the UK Foreign Office cannot guarantee safe passage.
He said he and his wife were “sick with worry” that they would not survive.
Nadia El-Nakla’s parent’s travelled to Gaza about a week ago and were there when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel this weekend, killing hundreds.
Mr Yousaf told the BBC he strongly condemned the “unjustifiable” the actions of Hamas.
“There can be no equivocation about that condemnation, and the Scottish government is strong in its condemnation, ” he said.
“What we have unfortunately seen is many innocent people lose their lives in the course of the last 48 and 72 hours and the lives of an innocent Israeli are to me equal to the lives of an innocent Palestinian.
“And many innocent people on both sides I’m afraid we are seeing are losing their lives and that cannot be justified in any way, shape or form.”
Mr Yousaf said many Jewish families in Scotland would also be worried about family members they have not heard from or who have come to harm.
“We cannot ever justify the killing of innocent civilians,” he said.
Speaking to the BBC on Monday, Mr Yousaf said: “As many will know, my wife is Palestinian, her mum and dad, my in-laws, who live in Dundee, live in Scotland, they’ve been in Gaza and are currently trapped in Gaza, I’m afraid.”
They were visiting the 92-year-old “elderly and frail” mother of Mr Yousaf’s father-in-law when the Hamas attack took place.
He said they had now been told by Israeli authorities to leave because “Gaza will effectively be obliterated”.
Gaza is home to about 2.3 million people, 80% of whom rely on aid.
More than 500 people have died there in Israel’s retaliatory strikes and the region could now be on the brink of a new humanitarian crisis.
“Despite the best efforts of the British Foreign Office, nobody, nobody can guarantee them safe passage anywhere,” he said.
“So I’m in a situation where, frankly, night by night, day by day, we don’t know whether or not my mother-in-law and father-in-law – who have nothing to do, as most Gazans don’t, with Hamas or with any terror attack – whether they will make it through the night or not.”
‘My family have nothing to do with Hamas’
Since the attacks began on Saturday morning, Israel has stopped all supplies entering Gaza, including food and medicine.
“This war will last longer than two days, I suspect,” Mr Yousaf added.
Mr Yousaf’s brother-in-law also lives in Gaza with his four children including a two-month-old baby. The family are running out of baby milk, and only have about two-days of supplies for the rest of the family, he said.
Many are currently without electricity and internet, and could soon be out of essential food and water supplies.
Even before the latest restrictions, residents of Gaza faced widespread food insecurity, restrictions on movement and water shortages.
“My family have nothing to do with Hamas,” he said.
“My mother-in-law is a retired nurse from Ninewells [Hospital]; my brother-in-law who lives in Gaza is a doctor, nothing to do with Hamas, but they are along with a lot of other Gazans potentially going collective punishment, and that cannot be justified.”