Humza Yousaf has accused senior members of Israel’s government of proposing “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza by moving Palestinians out and Israeli settlers in.

The First Minister said recent statements from senior figures in Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition government were “the textbook definition of ethnic cleansing”.

He urged other political leaders to “stop beating around the bush” and call it out.

It follows Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich this week saying the country should “encourage migration” of Palestinians from Gaza once the Israel-Hamaz war ends.

Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, also issued a call to “encourage the migration of Gaza residents”, which he said would allow Israel to “bring home” the residents of former Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip.

The remarks were widely condemned, including by the EU and US.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s top foreign policy official, said it was “inflammatory and irresponsible” to call for the resettlement of Palestinians living in Gaza, adding that “forced displacements” were strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law.

Mr Yousaf, whose wife Nadia El-Nakla has a Palestinian father and relations in Gaza, spoke about the situation in media interviews today.

He urged the UK Government to make clear to Israel that its actions in Gaza had gone “way beyond a legitimate response” to the October 7 attacks by Hamas that killed around 1,200.

The death toll from Israeli attacks in Gaza since is estimated to be more than 22,000.

The UN claims 1.9 million people in Gaza have also been displaced by Israeli action.

Mr Yousaf said UK ministers should make clear that Israeli officials - including Prime Minister Netanyahu - must be held accountable for the deaths of civilians if the country did not “immediately cease indiscriminate attacks” in Gaza.

He said: “The time has come for the UK Government to speak out forcefully and make it clear that Israeli action has gone way beyond a legitimate response to the appalling Hamas attack of October 7.

“Hearing comments from an Israeli government minister urging displacement of Palestinians from Gaza is deeply disturbing and should be universally condemned.

“Gaza is Occupied Palestinian Territory and will be part of a future Palestinian state – Gazans should not be subject to forcible displacement or relocation from Gaza.

“Hamas leaders must also be held accountable for the appalling attacks against Israeli civilians on October 7.”

He later told Sky News: “In the last week we have heard statements from senior ministers in Netanyahu’s government - the finance secretary, the national security minister - and they have made statements that the population of Gaza should be resettled, moved out of Gaza, and gone as far as saying Israeli settlements should now be in Gaza.

“If that is not tantamount to ethnic cleansing then I don’t know what is.

“And I think political leaders should stop beating around the bush, should call what they’re seeing in Gaza by what it is.

“We are seeing not only a humanitarian crisis, but we’re now seeing senior members of the Netanyahu government making statements that are frankly the textbook definition of ethnic cleansing, and that should be condemned in the strongest possible manner.”

The First Minister posted a clip of his comments on Twitter/X, adding: “In the last few weeks we've heard statements from senior Ministers in the Israeli Government calling for the resettlement of the population of Gaza, and for Israeli settlements to be established in Gaza.

“That is the textbook definition of ethnic cleansing and must be called out.”

 

 

Earlier this week, the UK Government released a statement responding to Mr Smotrich saying: “Gaza is Occupied Palestinian Territory and will be part of a future Palestinian state.

“The UK firmly rejects any suggestion of the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza.

“We share the concerns of our allies and partners that Gazans should not be subject to forcible displacement or relocation from Gaza.”