Humza Yousaf warns Israeli 'revenge' mission has pushed Middle East to brink of war

EXCLUSIVE: The former SNP leader accused the Netanyahu government of "making Israel and the entire region more unstable" on the first anniversary of the Hamas attack.

Humza Yousaf has warned the Israeli government's desire for "revenge" has pushed the Middle East to the brink of war.

The former SNP leader spoke out on the first anniversary of the October 7 massacre which saw Hamas terrorists from Gaza attack southern Israel, leaving more than 1,100 people dead and a further 251 held hostage.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) subsequently launched an on-going military assault on the Palestinian enclave which has killed an estimated 42,000 people.

The Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu has since widened the conflict by attacking Hezbollah militants based in the south of Lebanon, which has prompted Iran to fire missles at Israel in retaliation.

Writing for the Record, Yousaf accused the Netanyahu government of "making Israel and the entire region more unstable".

"There is not a reasonable person in the world that looked on at the images of the attacks on October 7, 2023 and could feel anything other than horror and revulsion," he wrote.

"However, the retaliation from the government of Israel has gone far beyond a legitimate response, it is revenge. That revenge has resulted in the collective punishment of millions of innocent people, who have been killed, injured, forced to flee their homes and starved to death.

"The killing of innocent men, women and children has been live-streamed into our living rooms, and on our mobile phones.

"A year on, and it is innocent people, who have nothing to do with Hamas or Hezbollah, who are paying the biggest price."

The former first minister's family was directly impacted by the invasion of Gaza in October last year as his wife's parents were in the region visiting relatives when fighting broke out.

Elizabeth El-Nakla and her husband Maged - the parents of Yousaf's wife Nadia - were eventually able to leave Gaza via Egypt after three weeks.

in his piece for the Record, the SNP MSP continued: "By slaughtering so many innocent people, the Netanyahu government is not making the people of Israel safer but making Israel and the entire region more unstable. Of course, Israel, like any country, must have a right to defend itself. They have shown they are capable of very targeted military strikes when it suits them.

"However, every country, Israel included, must abide by international law. Indiscriminate attacks, the killing of civilians, bombing hospitals, refugee camps, UN facilities, killing humanitarian aid workers, are all contraventions of international human rights law."

Yousaf added: "The international community must get tougher on their allies, demand a ceasefire, stop selling arms to Israel, recognise the Palestinian state, and enforce international law.

Violence is never the solution the only answer is a political and diplomatic resolution. Our collective failure to find one leaves the entire region, possibly the world, on the very brink of war."

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