The family of an adolescent Palestinian stuck in Gaza urged the British government on Wednesday to grant him entry into the country after authorities abruptly withdrew their objections to his pressing court appeal.
For legal reasons, the 18-year-old was only known as BSO. He was protesting the British Foreign Office’s denial to list his name on an evacuation list, which would have let him exit Gaza by crossing into Egypt through the Rafah crossing.
Additionally, he was contesting the decision made by the Home Office, the interior ministry of Britain, to deny entrance permission in the absence of new biometric data, which could only be provided in Egypt.
BSO was trapped in Gaza when the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out because his parents had been visiting their other children in Britain.
Shortly before a hearing at London’s High Court on Wednesday, both government departments—which had been defending the case—withdrew their opposition and consented to retake the decisions.
Unable to reveal his name for fear of revealing BSO’s identity, one of BSO’s brothers told reporters he was happy but still worried since he felt “we haven’t seen much empathy” from officials who, he claimed, had been “fixating on bureaucratic technicalities.”
He said that his brother was residing in Rafah, where Israel had threatened to launch a fresh ground attack after being temporarily made homeless.
“I think these circumstances are pretty grave, and I would expect any reasonable person not to try to find ways out of trying to help,” BSO’s brother stated.
Requests for a response from the Foreign Office and the Home Office were not immediately answered.
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