AC-2025-LON-000997 - [2025] EWHC 1970 (Admin)

Shortly before the hearing on 9 July 2025, I asked the Foreign Secretary’s legal team to indicate how many people the Foreign Secretary was aware of in Gaza who had leave to enter the UK. The answer, given on instructions by Mr Julian Milford KC, was that the Foreign Secretary was aware of 10 individuals in Gaza with unconditional leave to enter the UK and a further 28 with conditional leave who did not meet the EEC and whose circumstances were not considered exceptional. These, however, were those who had come forward to the FCDO. There may be others. The Foreign Secretary was not aware of any UK national currently in Gaza, though one had come forward in April and had been given assistance to leave.

At the hearing, I drew attention to a news report on the BBC website on 8 July 2025, in which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted as saying this at a meeting at the White House:

“I think President Trump has a brilliant vision. It’s called free choice. If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave...

We’re working with the United States very closely about finding countries that will seek to realise what they always say—that they wanted to give the Palestinians a better future.”

Mr Milford said that there had been a number of statements by the Israeli government, but that the Foreign Secretary’s assessment of the position remained unchanged from that set out in the decision documents.