John Swinney condemns 'unbearable' attack on Palestinian aid seekers
Medical teams said that 79 people were killed and more than 150 people were injured, many of them in critical condition.
READ MORE: John Swinney 'received no response' from Keir Starmer on Gaza child evacuations
A statement published by the WFP said that civilians came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire as the aid convoy approached.
The agency condemned the "violent incident" as it highlighted the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, pointing towards around 90,000 woman and children in the enclave who are malnourished.
"We are deeply concerned and saddened by this tragic incident resulting in the loss of countless lives. Many more suffered life-threatening injuries," the statement said.
The agency added: "These people were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation. This terrible incident underscores the increasingly dangerous conditions under which humanitarian operations are forced to be conducted in Gaza.
"Today's violent incident comes despite assurances from Israeli authorities that humanitarian operational conditions would improve; including that armed forces will not be present nor engage at any stage along humanitarian convoy routes.
"There should never, ever, be armed groups near or on our aid convoys, as reiterated on many occasions to all parties to the conflict.
"Shootings near humanitarian missions, convoys and food distributions must stop immediately.
"Any violence involving civilians seeking humanitarian aid is completely unacceptable."
First Minister John Swinney shared the statement on social media as he said: "This statement @WFP is unbearable to read.
First Minister John Swinney (Image: PA) "The international community must require the Israeli Government to stop these attacks and there must be a ceasefire now to allow humanitarian aid to flow."
This statement @WFP is unbearable to read. The international community must require the Israeli Government to stop these attacks and there must be a ceasefire now to allow humanitarian aid to flow. https://t.co/sALpZfp2Ql — John Swinney (@JohnSwinney) July 21, 2025
It comes after Swinney wrote to Prime Minister Keir Starmer urging him to support the evacuation of injured Palestinian children to hospitals in Scotland.
READ MORE: 3 women charged under Terrorism Act after breaching Edinburgh arms factory
The First Minister said that the Scottish Government is looking to medically evacuate children suffering from injuries caused by Israel's ongoing genocide in [[Gaza]], but that this "requires the support of the UK Government".
Over the weekend, the First Minister said he was "extremely disappointed" as he was yet to receive a response from Starmer, two weeks after writing to him.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
16 minutes ago
- The Independent
A Syrian American man is among members of the Druze community killed in sectarian clashes in Syria
A Syrian-American man of the Druze religious minority was killed in southern Syria when he got caught up in sectarian clashes there last week while visiting family members, relatives and officials said Tuesday. The U.S. State Department confirmed the death of U.S citizen Hossam Soraya in the city of Sweida and extended its condolences to his family. His relatives and friends told The Associated Press that Saraya, in his mid-30s from Oklahoma, was killed in an attack last Wednesday. The violence in Sweida provice, where the city of Sweida is the provincial capital, erupted earlier this month between the Druze community, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, and the local Sunni Bedouin tribes, drawing in Syrian government forces, which effectively sided with the Bedouins. Hundreds of people were killed — both civilians and combatants — before a ceasefire calmed the fighting, only for clashes to restart days later. The U.N. International Organization for Migration said more than 130,000 people were displaced during the fighting. The fighting threatened Syria's fragile transition and underscored the difficulties the new government faces as it tries to consolidate control over the country, months after Islamist-led insurgents ousted longtime autocrat Bashar Assad last December. Neighboring Israel also intervened, striking Syrian forces — actions Israel said was in defense of the Druze, who are also a significant minority in Israel. A raid by gunmen in military uniform The clashes started as a series of tit-for-tat kidnappings between armed Bedouin clans and Druze militias. Government forces intervened to stop the hostilities but effectively sided with the Bedouins. On Wednesday, Soraya was abducted with his brother Karim, their father Ghassan and three other relatives from the family home by gunmen who later shot and killed them in a square in Sweida, his friends and relatives said, speaking on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals. The gunmen told them they were government forces and assured the women nothing would happen to their men as they took them away, one of Soraya's friends said. The gunmen returned later and threatened the women and children, before leaving without harming them but taking off with gold and other valuables from the house, the friend said. They said they believe government forces were behind the killings but did not elaborate. The Syrian Defense Ministry says Tuesday it was investigating 'shocking and serious violations committed by an unknown group wearing military uniforms' in Sweida, without giving further details. The ministry did not specifically mention Saraya's killing. Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford said on Monday he was heartbroken over Saraya's killing. 'We are praying for his family, friends, and the entire community as they grieve this senseless loss.' Lankford said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Fellow Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin meanwhile said that he is working with 'partners in the region to learn more.' Trying to reach the family After new of the violence broke out, Saraya's relatives in America could not get a hold of him and other male family members in the Druze-majority city. They were told by remaining relatives in Sweida of the raid and that Saraya and the others were taken away by gunmen. Then, to their horror, they recognized Hossam and the other men from the family in a video posted on social media showing gunmen in military uniform sprayed their relatives with automatic fire as tehy were kneeling on the asphalt in a Sweida roundabout. Another video that surfaced later, shows their relatives being marched off by at least 10 armed men in military uniform, chatting among themselves, smiling and posing for the camera. A life in America Although Hossam had been living in the United States since 2014, he remained engaged in the community back home in Syria. He and his brother co-founded an online school named after their family for Syrians abroad interested in completing their education with their native country's curriculum, with millions scattered around the world after the almost 14-year civil war that erupted in 2011 and ended with Assad's ouster. On the school's social media page, Syrians and Oklahomans paid tribute to Hossam and his family after their deaths were announced. More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. The others live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. Most Druze in Syria have supported a more diplomatic approach with the new government in Damascus but the clashes in Sweida have left many doubtful of a peaceful coexistence the new leaders in the post-Assad era. ___
Scottish Sun
16 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Labour has wrecked the economy… here's how YOU might be made to pay – from fuel duty to income tax
Find out which tax hikes could be coming — and how likely they are on a scale of 1 to 5 RYAN SABEY Labour has wrecked the economy… here's how YOU might be made to pay – from fuel duty to income tax Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) IF Rachel Reeves was heading into Parliament's summer break with a huge headache, things just got a whole lot worse. The Chancellor woke up yesterday to a storm around Government borrowing hitting £20.7billion last month. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 5 With soaring debt and past decisions hitting growth, Rachel Reeves is said to be preparing for a tough Budget and likely tax rises Credit: The Mega Agency The figure — higher than the £17.1billion forecast for the period — was fuelled by a rise in the interest charges on government debt. And now, instead of blue skies and sunshine over the summer, Ms Reeves will have to deal with dark clouds gathering over the Treasury. She has said that 'the world has changed' since her previous Budget, with Donald Trump's global tariffs creating uncertainty. But the harsh reality is that a series of decisions this Government made has wrecked what was always going to be a fragile recovery. READ MORE ON TAX RISES TAXING TIMES Keir Starmer opens door to Budget tax raid after inflation jumps to 3.6% The decision to increase NI contributions for employers had a devastating impact on expansion and hiring plans — and wrecked confidence. Anger was also levelled at her and Sir Keir Starmer for talking the country down when Labour first came to power, as they painted a gloomy economic outlook for Britain. This is all before businesses face the roll-out of the workers' rights package over the next two years, which will hit firms for £5billion, according to the Government's own impact assessment. And better prospects for working people appear doomed as wealth creators flee the country due to the high-tax environment, with around 16,500 expected to leave this year. Self-inflicted misery And this self-inflicted misery could be compounded further in the Budget this autumn as Ms Reeves tries to solve her spending shortfall. The financial black hole has only been made worse by this month's £5billion welfare reform U-turn and the £1.5billion she will now have to find after the partial retreat on Winter Fuel payments. Rachel Reeves FINALLY addresses Commons tears after she and Keir Starmer put on awkward show of unity Economists have already said that the Chancellor may have to fund a £30billion shortfall to meet her fiscal rules, and higher taxes are a near-certainty because Whitehall departments have already faced brutal cuts. Ms Reeves insisted yesterday that UK productivity was the problem. She said low investment levels compared to other G7 countries had led to UK output not keeping pace with our competitors. Reeves said it would be easy to cut capital spending, but these would be 'short-sighted, wrong decisions'. Here, we weigh up the Chancellor's options as she battles to balance the books, along with our likelihood rating of the moves being adopted later this year. 1. Wealth tax REEVES will fend off pressure from Labour MPs to bring in a wealth tax after being warned the well-off will flee the country. The Chancellor is set to reject calls for levies on property, investments and savings after Lord Kinnock called for a two per cent surcharge on assets worth more than £10million. But a host of other countries have already tried wealth taxes and they haven't raised the money needed to cover the public finances. Recent research shows that the UK has seen 18 billionaires quit these shores in the past two years alone. 1/5 2. Income tax threshold freeze IN one of the positives from last autumn's Budget, the Chancellor said there would be 'no extension' of the freeze in income tax and National Insurance thresholds. She said such a move would hurt working people and take more money from their payslips. But a freeze on income tax thresholds for the next two years would help Ministers raise around £8billion to fill the Budget black hole. The move would mean that even more people would be brought into the higher rate of tax, with the freeze due to come to an end in 2028. 4/5 3. Fuel duty on petrol & diesel 5 Keeping the duty frozen and maintaining the 5p cut brought in back in 2022 will cost around £5billion a year Credit: Alamy COST-of-living demands on households will pile the pressure on to freeze fuel duty at its current level for another year, rather than opting for a much-needed cut. Keeping the duty frozen and maintaining the 5p cut brought in back in 2022 will cost around £5billion a year. The Sun's successful Keep It Down campaign has saved motorists around £100billion since our battle with the Treasury started in 2011. The headline tax rate on petrol and diesel is currently 52.95p per litre. Back in October, Reeves said raising fuel duty would be the 'wrong choice for working people'. 2/5 4. Capital Gains Tax PROFITS made from sales on shares, investments and property could fall into play for raising funds for Treasury coffers. Reeves raised the top rate of CGT by four per cent at the last Budget, but experts say if it goes up again the move could backfire. Higher rate taxpayers pay 24 per cent CGT on the profits from sales, which contrasts with 40 per cent if it was earned income. Nimesh Shah, from accountancy firm Blick Rothenberg, said: 'People may choose to hold on to things like houses so as not to crystallise the tax bill — or they may simply leave the UK and crystallise the gains abroad.' 2/5 5. Tourist tax on hotel rooms 5 Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is pushing for councils to have new powers to tax tourists, but there are worries this could hurt already struggling hospitality businesses Credit: AP DEPUTY Prime Minister Angela Rayner is pushing for councils to be given new powers to bring in a tax on tourists. The Labour number two is facing opposition from Reeves to bring in a surcharge similar to those other countries impose on hotel rooms. But the Treasury is understood to be concerned that it would just hit struggling hospitality businesses that have already been badly bruised by the National Insurance raid. 4/5 6. Income tax, VAT and NI pledge LABOUR promised at the last election to protect 'working people' from tax hikes, but uncertainty has arisen about who could be protected. A key pledge was not to hike the main revenue raisers of income tax, VAT or National Insurance when the party came to power. Treasury minister Darren Jones has insisted anyone who gets a payslip is a 'working person'. It comes after Cabinet colleague Heidi Alexander said those on 'modest incomes' would be protected. 1/5 7. Small business taxes 5 Craig Beaumont of the Federation Of Small Businesses says the Labour Government must prove it supports 'the country's everyday entrepreneurs' Credit: Alamy A MILLION bosses who own small businesses and set up as limited company directors fear being clobbered on their pay. The business community worry the first £500 of dividend income being tax free could be hit in the autumn Budget. Craig Beaumont, of the Federation Of Small Businesses, said: 'The Labour Government must show if it stands behind the country's everyday entrepreneurs'. 2/5 8. Pensions tax relief raid 5 Future pensioners could face cuts to tax relief on pension contributions, with a drop from 40 per cent to 20 per cent for high-rate taxpayers raising around £15 billion Credit: Getty FUTURE pensioners could see the tax relief on pension contributions lowered to help raise funds. Higher-rate taxpayers get 40 per cent tax relief and basic-rate taxpayers get a lower 20 per cent rate. If the rate was brought down to 20 per cent it could mean around £15billion would be raised. The idea appeared to be rejected last year. But it could be back on the table as autumn approaches to bring in necessary funding. 4/5
The Sun
17 minutes ago
- The Sun
Ed Miliband sparks fears of ‘boiler ban by backdoor' as he prepares to shun gas for heating homes
ED Miliband has sparked fears of a "boiler ban by the backdoor" as he prepares to shun gas for heating homes. Industry insiders are on high alert for the Energy Secretary to today signal the end of a role for hydrogen. 1 Sources briefed on the controversial proposal, which will be subject to consultation, told The Sun that turning away from green gasses could pave the way for Britons being left with no alternative but to rip out their trusty boilers. As the Energy Secretary drives towards net zero targets, the only viable path to retaining boilers would be to replace gas with eco-friendly alternatives like hydrogen or biomethane. These greener gasses could flow seamlessly through existing pipelines and work perfectly with boilers, enabling millions across the nation to continue living as they do now. Yet Red Ed is expected to snub these options in favour of encouraging households to adopt pricey heat pumps. A source within the industry said: 'Ed Miliband is effectively telling the British public they will not be able to keep their boilers in his net zero world. 'To sneak out a decision that big during recess, when the Government knows there is no parliamentary scrutiny, is completely unacceptable.' Labour' s manifesto, led by Sir Keir Starmer, promised that 'nobody will be forced to rip out their boiler as a result of our plans.' However, a fuming insider from the gas sector accused the Government of betrayal, stating: 'This is a Government elected on a pledge not to rip out your boiler – instead they are quietly lifting them out of people's homes and hoping they won't notice.' Mike Foster, CEO of the Energy and Utilities Alliance, warned that Mr Miliband's push for pumps could backfire spectacularly, with consumers unwilling to shell out for the costly devices because 'they are too expensive to install for most people and cost more to run than a gas boiler.' Mr Foster said: 'Consumers can't afford or won't pay the sums required for a heat pump, even with the massive taxpayer subsidies on offer.'
