The number of asylum applications from Palestinians is rising sharply in France, although they remain marginal compared to the overall volume of applications for protection (142,000 in 2023).

In the first eight months of the year, some 190 Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank sought protection in France. There were 67 in 2023, 31 in 2022, and 30 in 2021, according to data from the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA).

These applications do not necessarily come from Palestinians who fled after October 7, 2023, the day of the Hamas attack on Israel, for a variety of reasons. However, since the Israeli military operation began, "applicants have increasingly regularly invoked the worsening security situation in the Palestinian territories, first and foremost in Gaza," OFPRA highlighted in its 2023 report.

Since the beginning of the year, 90% of asylum seekers from Gaza and the West Bank have been granted protection, according to OFPRA.

The National Court of Asylum (CNDA), which has examined a handful of appeals from Palestinians not protected by OFPRA, has refined its jurisprudence to take account of the situation in Gaza. In a February 12 decision, the court ruled that, since October 7, 2023, "the Gaza Strip has been experiencing a situation of exceptionally intense indiscriminate violence," likely to strike civilians without distinction and creating a "dramatic humanitarian situation." This justifies the granting of subsidiary protection (which is granted to a foreign national who does not meet the conditions for refugee status, but who is exposed to risks of death or torture).

Furthermore, in another ruling on September 13, the Court decided that the status of Palestinians benefiting from United Nations protection, through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), was bound to switch to refugee status in France, due to the ineffectiveness of UNRWA protection in the Gaza Strip.

The CNDA relies on UN data according to which, since the start of hostilities, eight out of 10 Palestinians have been displaced, almost 40,000 killed and more than 90,000 wounded. In addition, almost 350,000 people are facing starvation, and 50% of water and sanitation facilities have been damaged or destroyed.