Humza Yousaf ‘sleepless with worry’ over parents-in-law trapped in Gaza

Humza Yousaf has said his parents-in-law are “trapped” in Gaza, leaving him “sleepless” with worry over whether they will “make it through the night”.

The First Minister, 38, said his wife Nadia El-Nakla’s parents had travelled from their Dundee home to visit her 93-year-old “elderly and frail” grandmother.

He said Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla had been instructed by the Israeli government to leave as “Gaza will effectively be obliterated” but they could not as “nobody can guarantee them safe passage anywhere”.

Emphasising that his parents-in-law had “nothing to do with Hamas”, Mr Yousaf said he did not know whether “they will make it through the night or not”.

Mr Yousaf’s brother-in-law, a doctor, also lives in Gaza with his four children, including a two-month-old child. The family are running out of baby milk, and have about two days of supplies for the rest of the family, he said.

An emotional Mr Yousaf said his mother-in-law was born and bred in Dundee and was a retired nurse who worked at the city’s Ninewells hospital. He said “innocent civilians who have nothing to do with the conflict” were paying the price.

Although he “unequivocally” condemned the attack and backed Israel’s right to defend his citizens, he concluded: “What we cannot do, what cannot be allowed to happen, is the collective punishment of 2.2 million people in Gaza.”

‘Humanitarian corridor’

Mr Yousaf said the majority were children and called for a “humanitarian corridor” to be opened to allow residents to leave safely.

The First Minister’s intervention came as he was challenged to tear up his coalition deal with the Scottish Greens or be labelled “an apologist for anti-Semitism”.

Maggie Chapman, the Scottish Greens’ equalities and human rights spokesman, took to social media to argue the Hamas attack on Israel was “a consequence of #Apartheid, of illegal occupation, and of imperial aggression by the Israel state”.

Her views echoed those of another Green MSP, Ross Greer, who tweeted at the weekend: “Palestinians have a clear right under international law to defend themselves, including by attacking their occupiers.”

‘Vile comments’

Jackson Carlaw, the former Scottish Tory leader, challenged the First Minister to scrap his “toxic” power-sharing Bute House Agreement with the Greens following the “vile comments”.

But Mr Yousaf insisted the call by Mr Carlaw, who represents the Holyrood constituency with Scotland’s largest Jewish population, was “terribly crass” in the context of the “geopolitical situation between Israel and Palestine”.

Mr Greer also released a statement stating that: “Deliberately massacring innocent civilians is a war crime and an act of pure evil. We condemn Hamas without hesitation.”

However, he added: “Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine must be recognised as the root cause of these cycles of violence and both Hamas and the Israeli Government held to account for the war crimes they have committed.”

Ms El-Nakla’s parent’s travelled to Gaza about a week ago and were there when Hamas terrorists launched a surprise attack on Israel this weekend, killing hundreds.

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.”

He said they had now been told by Israeli authorities to leave because “Gaza will effectively be obliterated” but were “trapped” despite the “best efforts” of the Foreign Office.

‘Watching our phones’

“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,” he said.

The First Minister added: “We cannot sleep – we are constantly watching our phones. When our messages do get through, we’re waiting for a reply.”

Mr Yousaf said his thoughts were with all those worried about the fates of their families, including those in Scotland’s Jewish communities with relatives in Israel.

He added: “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 to suffer collective punishment, and that cannot be justified.”

‘Condemnation’

Mr Yousaf said Ms Chapman was responsible for her own remarks but insisted his government was “unequivocal in its condemnation” of Hamas over the attack.

But Mr Carlaw, the MSP for Eastwood in East Renfrewshire, said: “Maggie Chapman’s comments are so unacceptable that Humza Yousaf must end the toxic Bute House Agreement and kick the Greens out of his government. If not, he will be deemed an apologist for antisemitism.”