Palestinian mum and son fail in bid to force UK Government to help them leave Gaza and travel to Britain

A Palestinian mum and her son have failed in a legal bid to force the UK Government to help them leave Gaza and travel to Britain.

The couple – who have only been identified as A and B – instructed lawyers to launch an action against foreign secretary Yvette Cooper at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

The court heard how the mum and 16-year-old son are currently living in a tent in Gaza. The woman’s husband, who has been identified by the initial C, is a refugee living in Glasgow and they want to live with him.

The court heard how the duo had applied to join him – but before entry to the United Kingdom can be agreed, applicants must provide fingerprints and facial images at a visa application centre.

The court that the centre in Gaza has been closed since October 2023 and the nearest available centre is in Jordan.

Lawyers for the family say they can not safely leave Gaza without British government assistance and have asked the Foreign and Commonwealth and Development Affairs Office for help to leave Gaza.

The court heard how the family made the request in October 2025. However, ministers have yet to make a decision on the request and this prompted the family to raise an action at the Court of Session.

Their lawyers wanted judge Lord Braid to pass an order saying the failure to make the decision is unlawful and they want the FCDO to make a decision in the family’s case within 48 hours of the court hearing.

Lawyers for the FCDO argued that the foreign secretary and her other ministers hadn’t acted unlawfully. They told Lord Braid that the situation on the ground in Gaza was fast changing with border closures, security considerations and the need for coordination in their response with the Home Office.

Lawyers for the FCDO asked for the petition to be dismissed.

In a written judgement issued by the court on Friday, Lord Braid upheld the arguments made to him by the FCDO saying that courts needed to be slow to interfere in matters of foreign policy.

He wrote “As senior counsel for the respondent submitted, whether to provide exceptional consular support to facilitate the petitioners’ exit from Gaza was and remains a complex decision that requires to be taken in the context of a rapidly evolving situation in the Middle East.

“Viewed as a whole, these factors provide cogent reasons as to why the minister has not yet made a decision in respect of the petitioners’ applications.

“Whether the court agrees with those reasons or thinks that a decision might have been taken more efficiently or more speedily, is immaterial.

“Although a decision whether to grant consular assistance does not involve the making of foreign policy, it cannot be denied that it at least involves matters of policy, foreign affairs and national security.”

The judgment was published after legal submissions were heard earlier this year.

In the case, Lord Braid observed that some of the pressures presently being faced by FCDO ministers included “the war that started on February 28, 2026” and the closure of the Rafah border crossing and when it would re-open.

Lord Braid also wrote of how the petitioners had to attend a Visa Application Centre within 240 days of submitting their application. The deadline passed on March 31, 2026.

The court heard that the family raised another judicial review to ensure that the deadline was extended and the family’s request can still be considered by ministers.

However, Lord Braid concluded that the case raised by the petitioners had to fail.

He wrote: “I conclude that the delay in reaching and issuing a decision is not unlawful, but is the product of a rational process involving matters of foreign affairs and policy in which the court ought not to interfere.

“The petitioners are, therefore, not entitled to the orders sought and the petition falls to be refused.”