HUMZA Yousaf has said that Scottish hospitals can help treated injured Gaza civilians if they are medically evacuated.
The First Minister, whose wife Nadia El-Nakla’s parents are trapped in Gaza, added that Scotland is “certainly prepared for that”.
Yousaf also previously said that his brother-in-law, who is a doctor in Gaza, has witnessed scenes of horror and carnage.
“Hospitals running out of medical supplies, doctors and nurses having to make the most difficult decision of all. Who to treat and who to leave to die. This cannot be allowed to continue,” the SNP leader said.
He restated his commitment to help injured civilians in Gaza in response to a question from SNP MSP Kaukab Stewart at First Minister’s Questions (FMQs) on Thursday (below).
Yousaf added: “I will make the point that I have made in the chamber before. The people of Palestine and Gaza are very proud people. They should not have to leave their land, but many of them have been forced to leave—in particular, those who have been moved from north Gaza to south Gaza.
"Many people are lying injured and dying in hospitals, which are running out of fuel and medical supplies. When we can bring those injured people for treatment in Scotland and the UK, Scotland is certainly prepared for that.
“Our officials are in regular contact with their counterparts at the UK Department of Health and Social Care. No request has been made for the UK to receive medical evacuations from Gaza, but we hope that, if that request comes, the UK and Scotland will be ready to play their parts.
“I reiterate the calls that I have been making for many weeks now: for an immediate ceasefire to allow the humanitarian corridor to open; to allow supplies, including fuel, to come into Gaza; and, of course, to stop the bombing and killing.
“We have seen horrendous scenes during the past week, let alone the past three and a half weeks—in particular, the sickening bombing of Jabalia refugee camp, which must be condemned in the strongest possible manner.”
