Gaza Family Pleads with UK Court for Help to Escape War and Reunite with Relative
LONDON A Palestinian family trapped in Gaza, despite being granted permission to join a close relative in the UK, has asked London’s High Court to step in and urge British officials to seek Israel’s cooperation in allowing them to leave the war-torn enclave.
The family a couple and their four children — were granted leave to enter the UK earlier this year to reunite with a British family member. However, their lawyers say that Britain’s foreign office has so far refused to help facilitate their evacuation by asking Israeli authorities to allow them to leave Gaza — a necessary step so they can complete the biometric checks required to travel.
With no functioning visa centers in Gaza, the process hinges on diplomatic coordination, but the UK’s foreign ministry has declined to request assistance from Israel. The inaction has left the family stranded in increasingly dire conditions.
Barrister Tim Owen, representing the family, told the court that the parents and children have been displaced by the war and are now struggling to survive. In recent weeks, three of the children came under fire while trying to access aid, and one suffered a wrist injury from shrapnel after a tank shell exploded nearby.
Owen argued that Israel has a consular process in place to allow such evacuations, but that the UK has not even made the request on the family’s behalf. “They are asking for a lifeline that simply hasn’t been offered,” he said.
The UK government, however, maintains that such evacuations are complex and must be considered on a case-by-case basis. Government lawyer Julian Milford told the court that 10 people with unconditional leave to enter the UK remain stuck in Gaza, along with 28 others who qualify but cannot complete the biometric process.
He cited concerns within the foreign office about using up limited “political and diplomatic capital” with Israel in cases like these, suggesting a cautious approach.
The family’s legal team emphasized that they, like the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, have been displaced by the devastating conflict sparked by Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023 an assault that killed around 1,200 people and led to the capture of more than 250 hostages.
Since then, Israel’s military response has left over 57,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza’s health ministry, and has turned entire neighborhoods into rubble.
Despite the humanitarian crisis, the family remains unable to leave not for lack of permission, but due to a bureaucratic void. Their lawyers are asking the court to compel the government to act before it’s too late.
