Paris court rules Gazans eligible for refugee status in France due to 'Israeli persecution'
The Paris-based National Court of Asylum (CNDA) ruled on Friday that Gazans who are not protected by the United Nations are eligible for “refugee” status in France due to "the risk of persecution by the Israeli armed forces." The French court’s ruling follows a previous ruling in September 2024 that Gazans could seek refugee status in France if their formal UN protection could no longer be guaranteed.
In its latest ruling, the French court referred to 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."
In March, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” after the terrorist organization Hamas refused to release the remaining Israeli hostages. The military operation is designed to put significant pressure on Hamas by eventually securing the military control of 75% of Gaza’s total territory. The IDF has at the same time tried to evacuate Gazan civilians to specific humanitarian zones in an effort to further isolate Hamas terrorists who use civilians as human shields in flagrant violation of international law.
A Gazan woman triggered the French ruling after she formally asked for international protection for herself and her son. The Gazan woman argued that she and her child were no longer legally protected by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
The landmark case marks the first time a Gazan resident has been granted official refugee status in France by the CNDS court. The French embassy in Cairo eventually produced two consular passes, enabling the Gazan woman and her son to enter France under the protection of the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA).
The court argued that its decision was made “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.”
Relying on UN reports and other public sources, the French court claimed that Israel’s military operation "which directly and indiscriminately affect the entire civilian population of Gaza" are “sufficiently serious [to be considered] as acts of persecution.”
The Geneva Convention grants refugee status based on “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.”
France has formally still not recognized “Palestine” as a de facto state and therefore views the Gazan mother and her son as “stateless persons in Gaza.” Yet, the French court argued that the two individuals were nevertheless eligible due to their “nationality.”
An April poll indicated that more than 50% of Gazans would consider emigrating if given an opportunity to do so.
The French Macron government has been very critical of Israel’s self-defense military operations against the jihadist group Hamas, which openly seeks Israel’s destruction and the murder of all Jews.
In April, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed that Paris would eventually recognize “Palestine” as an independent state.
“We must move toward recognition [of a Palestinian state], and so, in the coming months, we will," Macron stated.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
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