Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf said his parents-in-law are “trapped” in Gaza and “nobody can guarantee them safe passage anywhere.”
Yousaf, the leader of the Scottish National Party, said the parents of his wife, Nadia El Nakla, traveled from Dundee to Gaza to see a relative when Hamas launched its deadly attacks.
“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,” Yousaf told reporters on Monday, Sky News reported.
Yousaf’s family have been told by Israeli authorities to leave because “Gaza will effectively be obliterated,” the first minister said. However, “despite the best efforts of the British Foreign Office, nobody, nobody can guarantee them safe passage anywhere.”
“We cannot sleep — we are constantly watching our phones,” he said. He added many in “Scotland’s Jewish community … who will be really worried about their family in Israel that have come to harm.”
Yousaf issued an “unequivocal condemnation” of the Hamas attacks and warned that innocent civilians on both sides will suffer most due to the escalating conflict.
“My thoughts go out to everybody because innocent civilians have nothing to do with the conflict, they have nothing to do with Hamas terror, have nothing to do with the loss of life and they’re the ones often — innocent people — who are paying the price.”
