Scottish First Minister’s Mother-in-law Appeals for Help in Gaza

Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf. (dpa)
Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf. (dpa)
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Scottish First Minister’s Mother-in-law Appeals for Help in Gaza

Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf. (dpa)
Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf. (dpa)

Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf posted a video online Friday showing his mother-in-law in Gaza tearfully deploring Israel's order for residents in northern Gaza to evacuate their houses.

“This is Elizabeth El-Nakla. She is my mother-in-law... She, like the vast majority of people in Gaza, has nothing to do with Hamas. She has been told to leave Gaza but, like the rest of the population, is trapped with nowhere to go,” Yousaf posted on X platform.

"This will be my last video", al-Nakla said in a video that was published at the beginning of the Hamas-Israel war that started upon an attack by the Palestinian movement and other factions in Israel.

The retired nurse added "One million people -- no food, no water, and still, they are bombing them as they leave. Where are we going to put them? Where's humanity?"

The Israeli military called on Friday morning on all the residents of Gaza to evacuate their houses and head south in order to protect themselves.

The UN condemned this move and “Hamas” rejected it, on the seventh day of the war.

During an emotional interview with Sky News, Yousaf cried when discussing how "powerless and helpless" he felt about the situation.

He also accused the UK government of failing to help, saying he wrote to Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and was "angry" and "disappointed" to receive no reply. "He was in Israel and could have picked up the phone for me," said Yousaf.

Since announcing that his wife’s family was besieged in Gaza, no communication was made with Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

In a separate interview with the BBC, the Scottish leader said that Israel was "going too far" with its response to the “Hamas” attack.

"Collective punishment cannot be justified," said Yousaf, adding that innocent people were "paying an extraordinary price for those atrocious attacks that they have nothing to do with".



Russia, Chinese FMs Discuss Ties, Ukraine, Korean Peninsula on G20 Sidelines

In this handout picture released by the Russian Foreign Ministry on November 19, 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Russian Foreign Ministry/AFP)
In this handout picture released by the Russian Foreign Ministry on November 19, 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Russian Foreign Ministry/AFP)
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Russia, Chinese FMs Discuss Ties, Ukraine, Korean Peninsula on G20 Sidelines

In this handout picture released by the Russian Foreign Ministry on November 19, 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Russian Foreign Ministry/AFP)
In this handout picture released by the Russian Foreign Ministry on November 19, 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Russian Foreign Ministry/AFP)

Chinese and Russian foreign ministers discussed bilateral ties, the conflict in Ukraine and the situation on the Korean Peninsula on the sidelines of the Group of 20 meeting in Brazil, the foreign ministries of both countries said on Tuesday.

"We are truly at an unprecedented stage in the development of our strategic relations of a comprehensive partnership," Russia's Sergei Lavrov told his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, according to a post on the Russian foreign ministry Telegram channel.

Wang said that Beijing is willing to work with Russia to further strengthen bilateral "comprehensive strategic coordination," the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.

The "two sides also exchanged views on the Ukraine crisis and the situation on the Korean Peninsula," it added without providing further detail.

The meeting is part of a frenzy of bilateral talks between China and Russia that followed Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine 1,000 days ago. The war ostracized Moscow from Kyiv's Western allies, bringing waves of sanctions on Russian politicians and businesses.

China and Russia declared a "no limits" partnership when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Beijing less than three weeks before his troops marched into Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two.

In May this year, Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged a "new era" of partnership between the two most powerful rivals of the United States, which they cast as an aggressive Cold War hegemon sowing chaos across the world.