Humza Yousaf overruled officials in order to give £250,000 to a Gaza aid appeal as members of his family were trapped.

Government officials recommended a £100,000 to £200,000 donation to Unicef, the United Nations agency to help support water programmes in Gaza.

However, Yousaf announced that £250,000 of taxpayers’ money should instead be given to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) - which has been criticised over claims it has links to Hamas.

He told officials that: "We should just announce an extra £250k to them".

The donation was publicly confirmed the same day that Yousaf met a delegation of senior UNRWA officials in Edinburgh on November 2.

A day later, on November 3, his mother-in-law and father-in-law left Gaza via the Rafah crossing.

The First Minister has rejected allegations that the donation was connected with the release of his family.

A spokesman 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."