The wife of Scotland’s First Minister has spoken of feeling “hopelessness and despair” over the plight of her family members who are stuck in Gaza – amid heavy bombing and the prospect of an imminent Israeli ground offensive.
The parents of Nadia El-Nakla, who is married to Humza Yousaf, are among relatives including her brother and his young children who are trapped in the territory, along with more than two million others.
Her mother and father, Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla, travelled to Gaza last week to visit his 93-year-old mother when Hamas attacked Israel, prompting reprisals and senior Israeli officials to declare a “siege” of the territory.
Israel has cut off water, food, electricity and medical supplies to the territory, while launching a series of devastating airstrikes.
And while Israeli authorities have told people living in Gaza to leave, Ms El-Nakla told Sky News that there was no safe passage for the millions of innocent civilians now trapped there.
“My fear is that, past my family dying, is that they will lose everything,” she said.
“They will not have food, they will not have water, and they’ll be staying in tents.
“The thought of my little niece, who’s four and full of life, in a refugee camp with no food, with no water really, really hurts.
“Also, what does a military invasion look like? You know, we’re seeing troops at the borders. What does that mean for two million people? What will happen when those troops go into Gaza?
“These are all questions that myself and others don’t have any answers for. Your mind can start to spiral to the worst possible places.”
She said that despite having British passports, even her parents had been not been able to escape the territory.
“My parents tried to get out when told to leave Gaza,” she said.
“They went to the Foreign Office. We filled out paperwork and there was a question: ‘Do you have any non-British nationals with you?’
“My brother and my nephews and nieces aren’t British, and the newest baby, eight weeks old, has no paperwork whatsoever because he’s a baby.
“They know that there’s no hope.
“My parents have British passports and they’re stuck there without any safe passage to get to the border. And when they were told to leave, the border was then bombed.
“If they had been 20 minutes earlier, they would have been there as the bombing happened.
“There’s no safe exit from the Gaza Strip for my parents with British passports, let alone the two million who have no passport to another country.”
Read more:
Why Israel is braced for Hezbollah attack from Lebanon
How hostage negotiators will be working to free Hamas captives
Ms El-Nakla said she was “completely terrified of what is happening right now”.
“In terms of missiles dropping every few moments [and] also terrified of what does tomorrow bring when there’s less water, there’s less food, there’s no fuel, there’s no medical supplies?” she said.
“My brother lives in Gaza. He’s he’s lived through the wars. He is an ER doctor.
Nadia El-Nakla with her parents and other family members
“But in the last few days, he has said that what he’s seeing and experiencing is nothing like ever, ever before.
“It’s completely terrifying what’s happening at the hospitals with not enough beds, with not enough supplies. We can’t get ambulances to people. It’s a real desperate situation and they’re all very scared.”
She said her aunt and uncle’s home had been destroyed, while the family of her friend – including a girl who was only a few years old – had been killed by Israeli bombs.
“My cousin sent me a voicemail last night, saying ‘Nadia, this is my last voicemail to you because we’re going to run out of internet and electricity, I won’t have battery for my phone, please just pray for us’,” she said.
“You just feel completely helpless, hopeless, despair. I’m trying not to get into complete and utter despair.
“This afternoon my dad did turn his phone off to conserve the battery and I couldn’t get in touch with them. It’s the not knowing. My brother, his phone doesn’t work at all now because all the telecommunications have been cut.
Palestinians evacuate wounded people after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza
“So he’s at the hospital… and travelling outside, where it’s even more dangerous than just sitting in the home.
“And I have no ways to connect with him to find out he’s okay. Those moments, those hours, and you’re just searching online for anyone on Instagram that is there, that is sharing what is happening on the ground. But that will become less and less as the days go on.”
Ms El-Nakla said Palestinians had faced oppression for decades.
“I have not seen my brother in 10 years – that’s a normal Palestinian’s story,” she said.
“Palestinians are cut off from their families all the time for decades because you cannot travel freely if you live in the Gaza Strip.”
She said authorities must allow the many innocent people in Gaza safe passage to leave.
Maged and Elizabeth El-Nakla with Scotland’s First Minister, Humza Yousaf
“We have to open a humanitarian corridor now. These people are in a dire situation, and they’ll start to die – not from the bombs – but from the fact that they can’t be treated.
“Civilians are being killed in Gaza right now as we speak. My family are doctors, they’re lawyers, they’re teachers, they’re engineers – they’re caught up in it – they’re completely innocent.”
It comes as the First Minister and SNP leader has been preparing for his party’s conference in Aberdeen this weekend.
