Britain’s Home Office has agreed to adjust immigration rules to allow several dozen students from Gaza to take up fully funded British university places next month, the UK government confirmed Tuesday.
It is understood that the students will be permitted to undergo biometric checks in a third country before travelling on to the UK to take up their places.
However, the Israeli government would still need to agree to each student leaving Gaza, as diplomatic relations worsen with London.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced last month that the UK will recognize a Palestinian state if Israel does not take a series of steps, including agreeing to a ceasefire-hostage release deal in its war with the Hamas terror group.
Of the approximately 40 students set to be eligible for support heading to the UK, nine are due to pursue scholarships under the Chevening scheme, according to the BBC.
A predominantly UK government-funded initiative, it enables “outstanding emerging leaders from all over the world” to pursue a one-year master’s degree in the UK, according to the British Foreign Office.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has also approved plans to help around 30 others who have won fully funded scholarships through other private schemes to reach the UK, the BBC reported.
A Home Office source told British media the arrangements are “complex and challenging,” but Cooper “wants no stone unturned” so the prospective Gaza students can take up their places in the coming weeks.
The ongoing war in Gaza was sparked when Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through southern communities on October 7, 2023, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.
Israel has been heavily involved in who leaves Gaza since June 2024, when it started using the Kerem Shalom Crossing to evacuate Palestinians via its own territory, following the closure of the Rafah Border Crossing into Egypt a month earlier.
Israel says most who leave do so to receive treatment or accompany someone sick or wounded, without specifying an exact breakdown.