A SCOTTISH footballer who plays in Israel has told of how he had to flee the country after Hamas launched an attack.
Clark Robertson, who recently signed for MS Ashdod, was told by club officials to leave the country in the wake of the weekend attacks.
The player said a couple of rockets hit Ashdod on Tuesday.
The death toll in Israel has reached 1200, with more than 1000 people killed by Israeli air strikes on Gaza.
The 30-year-old – who formally played for Aberdeen, Blackpool and Portsmouth - said once he and his teammates discovered Israel was under attack, they got on a bus to Ashdod which is only “about 20 minutes from Gaza”.
He said the club told all its foreign players to get their passports, pack their bags and get to the airport. Robertson slept on the floor on Saturday night in the Tel Aviv terminal before being able to secure a flight to safety.
"It was a big shock for everyone, a very worrying time,” Robertson told the BBC.
On Friday evening the team stayed in the north of Israel ahead of a game on Saturday evening.
"I got woken up by my teammate at 8am to say that the game was off, he said Israel was under attack,” added Robertson.
“At that time I don't think anyone realised how serious it was because they're used to rockets.
"Once we found out on Saturday morning it was all kicking off, we got back on the bus to Ashdod which is about 20 minutes from Gaza, which probably wasn't the safest thing to do but I think the club acted professionally and quickly.
"A couple of rockets hit Ashdod yesterday actually. We've got a group chat with all the players, I think they're all OK, they are all safe.”
Robertson is now home in Aberdeen and added he did not know when he would be able to go back out to Israel.
Seventeen British nationals, including children, are dead of missing following the attack on Israel.
The parents of First Minister Humza Yousaf's wife, Nadia El-Nakla, remain trapped in Gaza after travelling there to visit the 92-year-old mother of Yousaf's father-in-law.
