The First Minister has pleaded with the UK Government to do more to get aid into Gaza and to allow people trapped in the Palestinian enclave to escape.

Humza Yousaf made the comments to journalists as he met residents in the flood-hit city of Brechin. 

At one point during a visit, he had to step back and take a call from his mother-in-law who has been stuck in the Strip following the restrictions put in place by Israel in the wake of Hamas’s deadly and brutal attack on October 7.

Elizabeth El-Nakla and husband Maged had travelled to Gaza to visit a sick relative just days before the killing spree that saw them murder more than 1,400 people and taking more than 200 hostage.

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The First Minister said: “They’re really living in a situation that my mother-in-law describes as torture.

“The whole night there will be missiles, rocket fire, drones – they don’t know whether they are going to make it from one night to the next.

“They’re down to six bottles of clean drinking water in a house of 100 people, including a two-month-old baby, she tells me.”

Mr Yousaf – on behalf of Elizabeth – went on to urge the UK Government to use its influence as an ally of Israel to “demand” the Rafah border crossing in the south of the Gaza Strip be opened for those who want to leave, and for more aid to be brought into the country.

“She’s asking me, she’s pleading with me, and I’m pleading with the UK Government, not to just ask for the border to be opened, but to demand that Rafah crossing is opened and there’s a ceasefire right now,” he said.

“Because above and beyond my mother-in-law and father-in-law who are two people, there’s 2.2 million people in Gaza.

“The vast majority are innocent men, women and children, nothing to do with Hamas or their terrible terrorist atrocities, who are suffering.

“Every single one of us has seen the images, we’ve all seen the pictures, we’re all heartbroken and yet there is no ceasefire.

“People who want to leave should be allowed to leave, and we need far more aid than a trickle of 15 or 20 trucks going in every single day, so I hope the international community will step up their efforts to help the innocent people of Gaza.”

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On Saturday, 20 trucks entered Gaza in the first aid shipment into the territory since Israel imposed a complete siege at the start of the war. A second convoy of 15 trucks was allowed in on Sunday.

More than a dozen lorries crossed the border at Rafah today. 

In a Sunday phone call, Mr Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden “affirmed that there will now be continued flow of this critical assistance into Gaza”, the White House said in a statement.

However, the UN says this is just a fraction of what is needed to support the 2.2 million people living in Gaza. They have called for 100 trucks a day to be allowed to enter.

Israeli warplanes struck a number of targets across Gaza over the weekend in preparation for an imminent ground invasion.

At least 400 Palestinians were killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. This includes around 70 in Jabalia refugee camp and in streets close to two hospitals in Gaza City.

The authority claims that at least 5,087 people have now been killed in the two-week bombardment, which started after Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities.

 

IDF tanks and troops have been massing at the border.

The likely incursion comes amid growing fears of a widening war in the region.

Over the weekend, Israeli planes struck targets in the occupied West Bank, Syria and Lebanon, and fighting with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group continues.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told troops in northern Israel on Sunday that if Hezbollah launches a war, “it will make the mistake of its life”.

He added: “We will cripple it with a force it cannot even imagine, and the consequences for it and the Lebanese state will be devastating.”

 

READ MORE: Fuel fears as doctors raise concerns for premature babies in Gaza

Israel has not allowed any fuel to enter Gaza, causing problems for hospitals. 

The World Health Organisation said seven hospitals in northern Gaza have been forced to shut down due to damage from strikes, lack of power and supplies, or Israeli evacuation orders.

The lack of fuel has also crippled water and sanitation systems.

Meanwhile, European Union leaders are expected to back a United Nations call for a ceasefire this week.