All Palestinian nationals from the Gaza Strip who are not protected by the United Nations can receive refugee status in France because of "the risk of persecution by the Israeli armed forces," the nation's National Court of Asylum (CNDA) ruled on Friday.
This follows a previous ruling in September 13, 2024, that Palestinian nationals from the Strip protected by the UN could apply for refugee status in France given the fact that their protection on the spot could no longer be ensured.
Friday's decision was made under the 1951 Geneva Convention "because of the methods of warfare used by Israeli forces since the end of the ceasefire concluded on 19 January 2025 in March 2025."
It was sparked by a Gazan woman's application to CNDA for international protection alongside her son due to the fact she was not legally protected by the UNRWA the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). Their case marks the first time in France that a resident of Gaza has been granted the status of refugee by CNDA.
The mother and son had been taken care of by the France embassy in Cairo and were able to enter France thanks to two consular passes, where they were then granted protection by the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) under European law "in view of the situation of indiscriminate violence of exceptional intensity resulting from the armed conflict between Hamas forces and the Israeli armed forces, in accordance with a case law of the Court of 12 February 2024."
Following this, the applicants asked CNDA to recognize them as refugees on the basis of the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
The Court announced that, following an examination of their application, and taking into account the current situation in the Gaza Strip following the end of the ceasefire in March 2025, the mother and son would be personally persecuted on account of their "nationality,” by the Israeli armed forces which control a substantial part of that territory.
In reaching this conclusion, CNDA relied on available public sources, in particular reports by UN bodies. It concluded that Israel's methods of warfare, "which directly and indiscriminately affect the entire civilian population of Gaza" are “sufficiently serious [to be considered] as acts of persecution.”
Grounds for granting refugee status under the Geneva Convention
The five grounds for granting refugee status under the Geneva Convention are persecution due to “membership of a group united by its cultural, ethnic or linguistic identity, its common geographical or political origins, or its relationship with the population of another State.”
Despite France not officially recognizing a Palestinian state, considering the two “stateless persons in Gaza,” it found that they possessed the characteristics of a ‘nationality” and were therefore eligible.
"The scope in fact is very limited because there are few exits from Gaza, but in law, it is important," Maya Lino, the woman's lawyer, told the French daily Le Monde.