A French asylum court on Tuesday granted refugee status to a Palestinian woman from Gaza and her son, ruling that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip face persecution based on their nationality in a landmark decision.
Until now, Palestinians from Gaza were only eligible for “temporary protection” in France due to the ongoing war between Hamas and the Israeli military. The ruling, given by the National Court for Asylum Seekers (CNDA), marks a legal precedent, both in refugee eligibility and in how French courts assess the IDF’s actions in Gaza.
The woman, identified only as H., and her 11-year-old son, who sustained leg injuries, were initially excluded from France’s temporary protection category. They appealed to the CNDA, claiming that “the Israeli army uses indiscriminate warfare techniques against civilian populations because they are Palestinian.” Therefore, H. saw herself as eligible for asylum under the Geneva Convention.
The 47-year-old mother lived in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip. Her home was partially destroyed in an airstrike at the start of the war, and her son was injured in the legs. They received treatment at the French embassy, were smuggled into Egypt and eventually arrived in France in January 2024.
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To deliberate on H.’s request, the Refugee and Stateless Protection Committee (Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides) convened last Friday with an extended panel of nine judges (including the president of the refugee protection committee), instead of the usual three. To assess their claim, the National Court relied on publicly available documentation sources, particularly those from the United Nations.
The court noted that “the combat methods employed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip result in a significant number of civilian casualties and injuries—most of them women and children; widespread destruction of critical civilian infrastructure such as water and electricity supply points, hospitals and schools; and the forced displacement of the population.”
Furthermore, the court stated that “the obstacles and blockades hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid are creating a crisis and food insecurity for the entire population of Gaza. These methods are severe enough, in both nature and frequency, to be considered acts of persecution.”
France handles only a small number of asylum requests from the Palestinian territories. In 2023, the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons received 204 initial applications, followed by 230 in 2024 and 100 between January and May 2025.
The court explained in its decision that it believes “they have a well-founded fear of being personally persecuted if they return, due to their nationality, by the Israeli armed forces, who control large parts of the Gaza Strip.”