Family of former Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf's wife starving in Gaza

The family of Nadia El-Nakla, the wife of former Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf's is being starved in Gaza, the couple said in a video posted to social media.

El-Nakla, whose father is a Palestinian from Gaza, said in a post on X: "My cousin Sally, her husband and four children are starving. My aunt Hanan, her children and grandchildren, including a seven-month-old baby, are being starved."

Yousaf added: "Sally is one of millions in Gaza. Her husband goes out all day searching for food, often to come home with nothing, and when I say home, I mean a tent in almost 40-degree heat."

El-Nakla added that her family's hometown of Deir el-Balah was recently attacked by the Israeli army, with "starving people forced to run while being shot and bombed."

International criticism of Israel's war on Gaza has dramatically increased in recent days amid reports of mass starvation and continued Israeli bombardment which kills scores of people every day.

Israel completely stopped the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza last March.

In May, it allowed some aid to enter but only under the auspices of the US backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), whose distribution system has been condemned as "lethal" by UN officials.

Over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while desperately trying to obtain food from the GHF.

111 aid agencies warned this week that mass starvation was spreading across the enclave, with key workers such as doctors, paramedics, and journalists also feeling the effects of hunger.

In the video, Yousaf said that "in Gaza, doctors are becoming too weak to treat patients. Journalists too weak to report the silent killer of forced starvation," while El-Nakla noted that "this is a deliberate starvation of the Palestinian people, food and water are mere kilometres away."

"This form of warfare is sickening and the stories and images of my family and millions of others in Gaza are absolutely gut-wrenching," she continued, asking: "Can you imagine not being able to feed your children yet knowing the food you so desperately need is only miles away?"

Since the beginning of the war, 113 Palestinians have died from starvation in the enclave, including dozens this week.

Media outlets have also warned that their journalists are at risk of starving to death, including the BBC, Reuters, AFP and AP.

Yousaf said, "Fathers like me, parents like us, children like ours, being starved, displaced, bombed, all while the world watches. Governments might stay silent, they may refuse to act, but we won't."

"Sally's life matters, Palestinians' lives matter, and I'm begging those who have the power to open the borders do so now, and let the people of Gaza live," El-Nakla added.