Humza Yousaf’s in-laws make it out of Gaza after four weeks of ‘living nightmare’
The parents-in-law of Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf have made it out of Gaza after four weeks of a “living nightmare”.
Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla travelled to the Palestinian enclave to visit family but were unable to return home after the conflict erupted on 7 October.
A statement from Mr Yousaf and his wife Nadia El-Nakla said the couple were able to leave this morning.
“We are grateful to all of those who have assisted our parents over the last few weeks, including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office crisis team,” the statement said.
“These last four weeks have been a living nightmare for our family, we are so thankful for all of the messages of comfort and prayers that we have received from across the world, and indeed from across the political spectrum in Scotland and the UK.
“Although we feel a sense of deep personal relief, we are heartbroken at the continued suffering of the people of Gaza.”
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Yousaf calls for a ceasefire in Gaza
They reiterated their calls for all sides to agree to an immediate ceasefire, for hostages to be released and the opening of a humanitarian corridor to allow aid and fuel “to flow” into the region.
“Families in Gaza and Israel are suffering after the loss of entirely innocent men, women and children,” the statement added.
“We pray for them all, and pray that the international community at last focuses on achieving a lasting peace in the region: one that recognises that the rights and lives of Palestinians and Israelis are equal.”
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The Israeli military knocked out communications in Gaza last weekend cutting families off from each other.
When services were restored on Sunday morning, the first minister heard from his in-laws but feared for the pair’s safety as they had run out of drinking water.
The Foreign Office said the first British nationals left Gaza for Egypt on Wednesday as UK teams on the ground provided assistance.
It did not specify how many Britons had crossed the Rafah border.
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The SEC notice seemed to be an industry first after the commission approved the listing and trading of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds on US exchanges in January.
Nigel Farage has spoken about his aspirations as Reform UK party leader and insists he could become prime minister.
He told Sky’s political correspondent Darren McCaffrey the prospect of taking over at Number 10 at some point “may not be probable, but it’s certainly possible”.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Reform UK annual conference in Birmingham, he also described his intention to change the party and make it more democratic.
“I don’t want it to be a one man party. Look, this is not a presidential system. If it was, I might think differently about it. But no, it’s not. We have to be far more broadly based,” he said.
He also accepted there were issues with how the party was perceived by some during the general election.
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Highlights of Farage’s conference speech
“We had a problem,” he admitted. “Those that wished us harm use the racist word. And we had candidates who genuinely were.”
Earlier the party leader and Clacton MP gave his keynote speech at the conference, explaining how they intend to win even more seats at the next general election.
He also called out the prime minister for accepting free gifts and mocked the candidates in the Tory leadership race.
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Farage jokes about PM accepting gifts
But he turned to more serious points, too – promising that Reform UK will “be vetting candidates rigorously at all levels” in future.
Addressing crowds in Birmingham, Mr Farage said the party has not got “time” or “room” for “a few extremists to wreck the work of a party that now has 80,000 members”.
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“The infant that Reform UK was has been growing up,” he said in his speech and pointed towards the success of the Liberal Democrats at the general election.
He told delegates his party has to “model ourselves on the Liberal Democrats” which secured 72 seats on a smaller popular vote share than Reform UK.
He said: “The Liberal Democrats put literature and leaflets through doors repeatedly in their target areas, and despite the fact they haven’t got any policies at all. In fact, the whole thing’s really rather vacuous, isn’t it? But they manage with a vote much lower than ours to win 72 seats in parliament.”
Reform won more than four million votes in July, and 14% of the vote share – more than the Lib Dems.
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