Who is Humza Yousaf and why his voice matters now

Humza Yousaf, a Scottish politician who has been serving as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since March 2023, has been vocal about his opinions regarding the conflict between the Palestinian fighter group Hamas and Israel.

Yousaf, a Pakistani immigrant in Glasgow, is the first Muslim and second-generation immigrant elected to the Scottish Parliament. He had joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 2005 while studying at Glasgow University.

When Nicola Sturgeon resigned as Leader of the Scottish National Party and First Minister of Scotland in February 2023, Yousaf declared his candidacy in an interview with the Sunday Mail. Yousaf won the leadership race after being victorious in both rounds of voting, reports DW.

Labelled as a "trailblazer shaping our time" by The New York Times, Yousaf accepted the leadership at an event at Murrayfield Stadium, where he was sworn in as the first minister of Scotland on 29 March 2023, becoming the youngest person and the first Scottish Asian and Muslim to hold the office since it was created in 1999.

Yousaf's close ties to the Hamas-Israel conflict

Recently, he was interviewed by Victoria Derbyshire on BBC One, where he called for an immediate ceasefire, saying, "We cannot stand idly by."

Yousaf - whose wife's family is trapped in under-siege Gaza after travelling to the territory to visit a sick relative - said he heard from his mother-in-law during the early hours of Sunday.

"Last night was a very difficult night," he said. The first minister explains he got a call from his mother-in-law at 1 am in a "panic," although it turned out this was in response to a false alarm.

His in-laws had arrived before Hamas began its incursion into Israel which has led the Israelis to lay siege to the Palestinian territory.

"Nowhere in Gaza seems safe at all," he says, adding, "There has to be an immediate ceasefire."

Yousaf also calls for a humanitarian corridor to be introduced. He says the majority of Palestinians in Gaza have nothing to do with Hamas, whom he said he "condemned unequivocally."

"They are being collectively punished, and that cannot be justified."

He says his mother-in-law had only eaten one egg and had sips of water since Israel's siege of Gaza began, he told BBC One.

On Friday, Scotland's first minister said Israel was "going too far" and that innocent civilians in Gaza could not simply be "collateral damage."

Humza Yousaf shared a video of his mother-in-law, Elizabeth El-Nakla, describing the situation on the ground.

She issued an emotional plea for help after Israel told more than a million people to flee northern Gaza.

Yousaf said she was in a "real state of distress."

According to BBC, he shared that he believes there needs to be a humanitarian corridor, supplies need to come into Gaza, and the Rafah crossing to Egypt must be open.

When asked about domestic issues, Scotland's first minister lays the blame for that with the Conservative government at Westminster, reports BBC.

"True change comes with independence," Yousaf insists. In the interview, he shared that he "got into politics to transform lives."

Additionally, Yousaf believes the UK should allow Palestinians and Israelis to come to the country to seek safety. He described the UK as a "trusted ally."