First Minister shares family's 'relief' as parents-in-law escape from Gaza
Humza Yousaf was able to share the news of his wife's parents' passage to safety in a phone call with his stepdaughter on Friday
First Minister Humza Yousaf has said he shed "tears of relief" after sharing the news that his in-laws would be coming home with his 14-year-old stepdaughter.
Elizabeth and Maged El-NaklaElizabeth and Maged El-Nakla, the parents of Mr Yousaf's wife Nadia, were named among 92 British nationals permitted to pass through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt on Friday morning. The El-Naklas, from Dundee, were in Gaza visiting relatives when the conflict erupted, and Mr Yousaf has regularly shared updates on his family's situation - including that they had to drink sea water due to a lack of clean resources.
"A huge relief" for First Minister's family
Speaking on Friday, Mr Yousaf said the news had come as a “huge relief” to the family, as he thanked “everyone who has reached out” over the last four weeks for their “kind words, comfort and prayers”.
The First Minister revealed an emotional phone call to his 14-year-old stepdaughter to break the news of her grandparents’ journey to safety: “I was able to phone her during a break at school and let her know that her granny and grandpa were coming home.
“She shed a few tears and so did I”.
Ms El-Nakla is currently trying to organise flights from Egypt for her parents, so it is not yet clear when they will arrive back in Scotland.
Calls for a ceasefire have increased over the last week, with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and London mayor Sadiq Khan joining the First Minister's calls.
But the UK government insist a ceasefire will give Hamas the opportunity to attack "indiscriminately".
Mr Yousaf continues calls for ceasefire
Mr Yousaf said he did not accept that a "humanitarian pause" is a "justifiable response" to thousands of men, women and children being killed.
He added: "Everyone who’s reasonable would say that Israel has the right to defend its citizens from terror.
“But that also has to be within the legal framework of international law. Collective punishment can’t be inflicted upon an entire population.
“Innocent civilians, innocent children, cannot be seen as collateral. They’re not collateral, they’re children.”