However, the Foreign Ministry said the evacuation of citizens from Gaza is very complicated and the UK can only provide support in special circumstances.
A Palestinian family of six, despite permission to join a relative in the UK, asked the London High Court to reconsider Israel seeking help from leaving the enclave.
The lawyer representing a Palestinian couple and their four children said the family was brought back to the UK to join the family members of the British citizen.
The London court ruled earlier this year that the family should be allowed to enter the UK, a decision in February that was publicly criticized by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and opposition leader Kemi Badenoch.
But the family’s lawyer said the Foreign Office refused to provide assistance because it would not ask Israeli families if they could leave Gaza to provide the biometric data they needed to travel to the UK, as Gaza does not operate a visa center.
Tim Owen, a lawyer representing the family, said they asked the High Court to order the Foreign Ministry to reconsider its ruling.
Supporters of pro-Palestinian campaigns supporting Palestinian operations hold banners and flags outside London High Court on July 4, 2025; illustrative. (Credit: Reuters/Carlos Jasso)
Three of the family’s four children were recently fired while trying to get aid, and one of them was also hit on the wrist by shrapnel from tank shells, Owen said in court documents.
A “Consular Process Established by Israel”
He told the court that there was a “consular-level process” that had established Israel in order to evacuate Gaza people, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “had not even made a request.”
However, the Foreign Ministry said the evacuation of citizens from Gaza is very complicated and the UK can only provide support in special circumstances.
Julian Milford, a lawyer for the department, told the court that the Foreign Ministry realized that 10 people in Gaza were on unconditional leave, entered the UK without conditions, and obtained permission from 28 people but had to undergo biometric examinations.
Milford cites evidence from a department official, urging evidence in such cases “with political and diplomatic capital expenditures with Israel and others.”
The family’s lawyer said they were displaced after the Israeli Hamas war began.
