SCOTLAND'S First Minister has said his relatives in Gaza have been told they can leave via the Rafah border crossing to Egypt but are unable to get there.
Posting to social media on Wednesday morning, Humza Yousaf gave an update on family that remains in Gaza.
The parents of his wife Nadia El-Nakla were previously trapped in Gaza for over a month before fleeing over the border into Egypt.
Their son Mohammed, a doctor, his wife, and their four children remain in the warzone whilst bombing escalates following a temporary ceasefire.
Yousaf wrote: “My brother-in-law, his wife and four children (the youngest is four months old) have been told they can leave Gaza through Rafah.
“The problem is, they have no way of getting there, and even if they did, the fighting is ongoing.
“An impossible situation. We need a ceasefire now.”
My brother-in-law, his wife & four children (the youngest is four months old) have been told they can leave Gaza through Rafah. The problem is, they have no way of getting there, and even if they did, the fighting is ongoing. An impossible situation. We need a ceasefire now.
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) December 6, 2023
Yousaf previously told MSPs doctors in Gaza were having to take dangerous risks to treat their patients as vital supplies ran out, which he learned from conversations with his brother-in-law.
He said: “This government is unequivocal in its condemnation of the Israeli government cutting off water, food, fuel and supplies to the entire population of Gaza. Collective punishment can never be justified.
“Doctors, like my own brother-in-law Mohammed, are forced to practice medieval medicine, reportedly amputating limbs, stitching up serious wounds, even performing caesarean sections, without sufficient anaesthetic. This is a cruelty that cannot be allowed to continue."