'Ludicrous' and 'completely untrue': Scottish leader denies conflict of interest over £250K Gaza donation

Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf has said accusations there was a conflict of interest over a £250,000 donation he made to an aid agency working in Gaza are “ludicrous” and “completely untrue”.

Mr Yousaf’s parents-in-law were among millions under siege when he announced the donation to United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) as he met officials from the organisation on 2 November.

His relatives were evacuated the following day via the Rafah crossing.

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The Telegraph said on Saturday that he was being accused of ignoring officials, who had advised him to give UNICEF, a different UN agency, between £100,000 and £200,000.

But the money was allocated to UNRWA after a flash appeal for emergency aid, the Scottish government has said.

At the time, more than a million Palestinians in Gaza faced displacement amid the escalating conflict.

The first minister had “some serious explaining to do” and “may very well have broken the (Scottish ministerial) code”, according to Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr, who sits on Holyrood’s standards committee.

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The paper said Mr Yousaf told officials that, since he was about to meet senior UNRWA delegates in Edinburgh, “we should just announce an extra £250k to them”.

Any suggestion of a conflict of interest in the matter amounted to a regurgitation of “far-right conspiracy theories to be found online,” a spokesperson for the first minister said.

All international development fund allocations are guided by a rigorous process, they said.

“UNRWA had no role in the situation regarding the first minister’s extended family and any suggestion of a conflict of interest in this matter would be completely untrue, and simply a regurgitation of ludicrous far-right conspiracy theories to be found online,” the spokesperson said.

“The record shows the First Minister’s actions were consistent with his obligations towards openness and honesty in the Scottish Ministerial Code.

The decision was made on discussions with UNRWA, Unicef and the British Red Cross, they said.

In January, an Israeli intelligence report accused UNRWA staff of involvement in the 7 October attacks by Hamas.

A number of countries, including the UK, have announced a pause in support for the relief agency while an investigation takes place.

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Several of its employees had undertaken a review but urged donors to reconsider the funding suspension as it seeks to provide humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

Around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were abducted in the Hamas assault, which triggered the fighting.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health authorities say more than 30,800 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the Israeli military response.

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