UK government faces legal challenge over broken promise to rescue family from Gaza

A Palestinian father has accused the British government of putting his family in Gaza "in constant danger" after it failed to evacuate them, despite promising to do so more than two months ago. 

Lawyers representing the Palestinian man, who is in the UK and wishes to remain anonymous to protect his family, said his wife, three children and adopted nephew remain stranded in the Zawida area of Gaza after being displaced by Israeli bombardment. 

The family lives in a flimsy tent with little access to food, clean water or medical care as they continue to wait for the British government to evacuate them. 

"My family are in constant danger, and I worry about them every minute of every day," the man told Middle East Eye. "The UK government promised to help them but has now gone back on that promise for no good reason, while they continue to suffer.

"My children are so scared, they cannot sleep because of the constant hunger and fear that strikes will resume at any minute. I can't bear to be separated from my wife and children - if anything happens to them, my own life will not be worth living."

In August 2025, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) agreed to provide consular assistance to evacuate the family to the UK. 

Despite receiving Israeli clearances to exit Gaza, lawyers say that neither the FCDO nor the Home Office has taken steps to secure their evacuation. 

MEE understands the Home Office has granted the family reunion visas in principle. But to activate those visas, the family must undergo biometric checks - an impossible task to complete in Gaza, where no visa application centre operates. 

The Home Office did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication. 

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The nearest viable location for biometrics is Jordan. However, UK officials have refused to provide the assurances Amman requires to allow the family to cross the border and continue on to Britain. 

The father is now launching legal action against Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, accusing them of abandoning his family and failing to honour their promise to evacuate them. 

Lawyers from human rights firm Leigh Day argue that the UK's refusal to provide the necessary guarantees to Jordan is the main barrier preventing the family's evacuation. 

They note that the government has previously evacuated Palestinian university students and medical patients from Gaza under similar circumstances, coordinating biometric checks and advanced visa processing even before final decisions had been issued.

'Enduring the unimaginable'

"Our clients are continuing to endure the unimaginable," said Sarah Crowe, a solicitor with Leigh Day. 

"They are living on the streets in Gaza without food, shelter or medical care and remain at risk of serious harm or death, including from Israeli strikes that continue despite the ceasefire. 

"Other groups have been safely evacuated under similar circumstances. Our clients argue that this differential treatment is not only unjustifiable and unfair - it is unlawful."

Leigh Day added that their client is one of several families in Gaza with a right to family reunion that the UK government has promised to assist, but has failed to do so.

The legal action comes after local authorities inside the Gaza Strip warned that flood water from thunderstorms could be catastrophic for two million people, most of whom are displaced.

Israeli forces have killed nearly 70,000 Palestinians since they began their war on Gaza in October 2023. 

Thousands remain missing in Gaza, with many feared dead and buried under rubble.