The first minister of Scotland’s wife Nadia El-Nakla has told BBC News that her family are trapped in Gaza, and are “terrified”.
Her parents, Elizabeth El-Nakla and Maged El-Nakla, travelled from their home in Dundee to a Palestinian territory, the Gaza Strip, to see their relatives last week.
Humza Yousaf’s in-laws were going to see Maged El-Nakla’s 92-year-old mother, who is ill, and their son, Mohammad, who has an eight-week old child of his own, along with three other children.
But shortly after their arrival, then Palestinian militants, Hamas, launched a deadly attack on Israel, prompting Tel Aviv to declare war and to retaliate with brutal airstrikes, and a complete siege of Gaza.
Hamas has since killed more than 1,200 people in Israel, according to Tel Aviv officials – while Palestinian officials say 1,354 have been killed and an additional 338,000 displaced in Gaza.
She revealed that some of her other relatives have had their homes bombed in the Israeli missile strikes, too.
El-Nakla – who is also a Dundee City councillor – told the BBC, “they are just terrified.”
She added: “They are now caught up in a war situation.
“My mum says that there is continual bombardment from land, sea and air.”
She added that her mother has not slept since Monday and feels like “every part of her body is shaking”.
They were planning to flee on Tuesday, but the border between Gaza and Egypt was bombed.
Yousaf has also called for a humanitarian corridor out of Gaza, but Egypt has rejected such calls, claiming it stands by “the right of Palestinians to hold on to their cause and their land”.
The El-Nakla family is also in a tricky position because her other relatives don’t have UK passports. That means even if it was possible to escape the warzone, some family members would have to stay behind.
El-Nakla said she was worried Gaza would be “obliterated” and she feels like “I am just living in a nightmare for them”.
She added: “It puts the complete fear into me that I am never going to see them again.”
El-Nakla called for basic aid – like food and water – to be sent to the area.
“That’s my fear. First is they die. Second is they are starving. Three is the house is put to rubble and they are in camps,” she said.
Referring to Israel’s claim that its bombardment of Gaza is revenge for Hamas’ violence at the weekend, she claimed:“We are seeing the worst of human beings in this whole conflict.”