SNP activist tells of fears for family stuck in Gaza

Along-serving SNP activist who stood for election in the north-east last week says she’s worried sick as her brother and young relatives endure a war zone in Gaza.

Nadia El-Nakla, who is married to Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, spoke of her distress as violence escalates in the blockaded territory.

The 37-year-old lives in Broughty Ferry and has been kept in constant contact through WhatsApp messages about her family.

“For us as a family here it’s sickening,” she said. “Literally sick with worry to the point where you can’t eat.

“You almost don’t want to hear from your family because you don’t want to hear how bad it is for them.

“As siblings you feel like you should have the same experience, so for me, my brother, my niece and my nephews, it breaks my heart that I’m here safe and they’re in a war zone. There is no safe haven in Gaza.”

Rockets were fired from Gaza while Israeli forces bombarded the territory with air strikes in the most serious fighting since the 50-day war in 2014, according to international reports yesterday.

The death toll rose to 35 Palestinians, including 12 children and three women, by yesterday morning according to Gaza’s health ministry, with at least 233 people injured.

Five Israelis, including three women and a child, were killed by rocket fire on Tuesday and early yesterday, and dozens of other people were injured.

UN Middle East peace envoy, Tor Wennesland, said the sides were “escalating towards a full-scale war”.

Ms El-Nakla, whose dad is Palestinian, visited Gaza every summer while growing up but has been unable to go for 16 years.

“It’s home to my brother, my niece and my nephews, and my grandmother who’s very frail now,” she said.

Her brother Mohammed, a doctor, has provided regular updates.

He has a wife, Duas, two boys – Amjid and Majid – and a girl, Layla. Ms ElNakla’s 85-year-old gran, Hasna, is also in Gaza.

Ms El-Nakla is the senior case worker for Dundee City East MSP Shona Robison.

She said of her brother’s updates: “He’s messaging me, trying to make me feel better, saying it’s normal, ‘I’m used to it, I’m not scared of dying’.

“For his sister to hear that, it’s difficult. I was walking in Broughty Ferry and I can’t even imagine bombs dropping on us, let alone that being the ‘norm’. It shouldn’t be normal for anyone.”

Her husband, a senior figure in Nicola Sturgeon’s government, earlier raised the family’s plight in a series of posts on social media, drawing attention to the international crisis.

And yesterday morning he thanked people for their “kind messages” about his brother-in-law.

In a post on social media, he added: “I have passed

your kindness and prayers to my wife and her brother who are taking great comfort in them. I hope the international community intervenes and actually tackles the root of this conflict.”

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged leaders in Israel and Palestine to “step back from the brink”.

Mr Johnson said: “The UK is deeply concerned by the growing violence and civilian casualties and we want to see an urgent de-escalation of tensions.”

The latest upsurge in violence has been triggered by tensions in Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

A focal point was the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, a holy site sacred to both Jews and Muslims, while there were also clashes over the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers in the Sheikh Jarrar neighbourhood of east Jerusalem.

WAR ZONE: Smoke billows up in the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes yesterday on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Mohammed El-Nakla, his wife Duas and one of their sons.

Twins Amjid and Majid with their baby sister Layla.