Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf deemed the Israeli genocide in Gaza "tantamount to ethnic cleansing" in an interview conducted on Friday. 

Addressing the United Kingdom, Yousaf said the government must clarify to "Israel" that its conduct in Gaza has surpassed what is considered a "legitimate response".

In his interview for Sky News, Yousaf said, "Frankly, my plea is one of desperation. I mean, I am seeing the same images you are seeing and the same images your viewers are seeing, day in and day out."

"And I think it's tantamount of importance for every single person to raise their voice and say that what we're seeing from Israel, the indiscriminate attacks we're seeing, go far beyond a legitimate response. They look now like vengeance and have done, I have to say, for quite some time.”

He also called the UK's stubborn refusal to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza "shameful", as he tried to urge for the employment of its influential power to halt all Israeli attacks and hold Israeli officials, including PM Benjamin Netanyahu, accountable for the killing of over 22,000 Palestinians. 

Moreover, he advocated for sending aid to Gaza to curb the unfolding humanitarian crisis, as 85% of the population has been internally displaced and faces imminent threats of famine and disease. 

Yousaf also addressed Netanyahu's government, specifically Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who encouraged the "migration of Palestinians from Gaza" and the installment of settlements in Gaza, saying, "If this is not tantamount to ethnic cleansing, then I don't know what is."

"We are seeing not only a humanitarian crisis, but we're now seeing senior members of the Netanyahu cabinet making statements that are, frankly, the textbook definition of ethnic cleansing and that should be condemned in the strongest possible manner."

In the last few weeks we've heard statements from senior Ministers in the Israeli Government calling for the resettlement of the population of Gaza, and for Israeli settlements to be established in Gaza.

That is the textbook definition of ethnic cleansing and must be called out. pic.twitter.com/QZroEJQpCk

— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) January 5, 2024

Precedents of Scottish-Palestinian Solidarity

When the UK abstained from voting for a ceasefire in Gaza at the UN, Yousaf condemned the action and slammed the government, saying it was "incomprehensible how they can choose to be complicit in the killings of thousands of children."

The First Minister also previously pushed for the UK government to recognize Palestine "within the 1967 borders" in a letter to Rishi Sunak. A similar letter was written to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, pleading with him to support the proposals.

Yousaf wrote that it was "essential and urgent" that the UK government tell "Israel" and the world that “only Palestinians can have authority in Gaza."

He decried what he called the "gradual, but deliberate, expulsion of Palestinians from the entire territory," in response to the Israeli government's order for Palestinians to leave the city of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip's south.

“Following the forced evacuation of the population from the north of Gaza, it reinforces the impression that what we are witnessing is the gradual, but deliberate, expulsion of Palestinians from the entire territory."

Read more: Scottish Parliament calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza