Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf has said his in-laws are “safe and back home” after they fled Gaza.
Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla, from Dundee, were among 92 British nationals permitted to pass through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt.
The couple travelled to Gaza to visit family prior to the conflict erupting and had been trapped there since.
“I am pleased to say my in-laws are safe and back home,” Mr Yousaf said on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.
“We are, of course, elated, but my father-in-law said, ‘My heart is broken in two, and with my mum, son & grandchildren in Gaza’.
“He then broke down telling me how hard it was saying goodbye to them.”
Scotland First Minister Humza Yousaf and his wife Nadia El-Nakla have spoken of their joy at her parents’ safe return from the Gaza Strip (Andrew Milligan/PA)— (PA Wire)
Mr Yousaf’s wife, Nadia El-Nakla, had reported her parents were without clean drinking water and faced “rapidly diminishing supplies”.
Mr and Ms El-Nakla spent the past two weeks in a house where dozens of people were sheltering.
They had travelled to the border on three previous occasions without success.
Speaking to BBC News from a coach bound for Cairo, Ms El-Nakla said: “We are completely exhausted as we haven’t slept properly for the past 27 days.
“The past few days have been particularly traumatic. We don’t really know what’s been going on in the outside world as there’s been no internet, electricity, clean water and food has been difficult to get.”
The Rafah crossing, which offers the only way in and out of Gaza, was opened by Egypt on Wednesday.
