by London (AP) Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated Tuesday that unless Israel agrees to a truce in Gaza, permits the U.N. to bring in aid, and takes other actions toward long-term peace, the U.K. will recognize a Palestinian state in September.
A unusual summer Cabinet meeting was called to review the situation in Gaza by Starmer, who is facing increasing domestic pressure over the matter as many Britons are appalled by the images of famine there. It followed a Monday meeting in Scotland where he spoke with President Donald Trump on the crisis.
On Monday, Trump told reporters that he had no problem with Starmer’s stance on Palestinian statehood. Trump said during his Tuesday flight back to the United States that the two never talked about the possibility of the United Kingdom recognizing a Palestinian state.
Trump stated, “We don’t have an opinion on that.”
In order to revive the possibility of a two-state solution, Starmer stated that unless the Israeli government takes decisive action to put an end to the terrible situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire, and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, Britain will recognize a state of Palestine before the UN General Assembly.
According to him, this entails letting the United Nations resume providing aid and stating unequivocally that the West Bank will not be annexed.
The requirements, which go right to the core of the conflict’s most unsolvable problems, seem improbable for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s administration to meet. Netanyahu opposes the two-state idea for security and patriotic reasons.
The British declaration was rejected, according to Israel’s foreign ministry.
According to the ministry on X, the British government’s current stance change in response to the French action and internal political constraints is a prize for Hamas and undermines efforts to reach a truce in Gaza and a framework for the release of captives.
Starmer also reiterated the United Kingdom’s demands that Hamas disarm, commit to a ceasefire, free all of the prisoners it is holding, and acknowledge that it would not participate in Gaza’s governance.
In a televised statement, Starmer stated that his government will evaluate the parties’ progress toward fulfilling these stages in September before deciding whether to grant recognition.
Although it has stated that recognition should be a part of a negotiated two-state solution to the problem, Britain has long backed the idea of an independent Palestinian state coexisting with Israel.
However, Starmer claimed that Britain was prepared to make the move because the concept of a two-state solution is becoming less viable and seems more distant now than it has in a long time. Despite the limitations he outlined, he stated that Britain maintains that the Palestinian people have an unalienable claim to statehood.
Since French President Emmanuel Macron declared in September that his nation will be the first major Western power to recognize a Palestinian state, pressure has increased for the formal recognition of Palestinian independence.
Like with France, British recognition would mostly be symbolic, but it might strengthen diplomatic pressure for an end to the conflict and is a part of a larger European and international movement against Israel.
A Palestinian state is recognized by more than 140 nations, including 12 in Europe. With Macron’s declaration last week, France became the largest country in Europe and the first member of the Group of Seven to do so.
Because of Gaza, many Europeans have soured on Israel. Ireland, Spain, and the Netherlands are among the nations that have made a concerted effort to put pressure on Israel to stop its military actions and allow more supplies.
A letter encouraging the British government to recognize a Palestinian state has been signed by more than 250 of the 650 members of the House of Commons.
As the former ruler of what was then Palestine and the author of the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which supported the creation of a Jewish homeland, Britain has a unique historical significance.
According to Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Britain had a unique obligation.
At a meeting at the United Nations in New York, Lammy declared our unwavering support for Israel, its right to exist, and the safety of its citizens. Nonetheless, the solemn pledge that nothing be done that might jeopardize the civil and religious rights of the Palestinian people was included in the Balfour Declaration. Colleagues, this is a historical wrong that has not been upheld and is still happening.
Britain’s announcement was hailed in France.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot wrote on X that the UK is supporting the push France has been making to recognize the state of Palestine.
Omar Awadallah, the foreign minister’s assistant for the Palestinian Authority, praised Starmer’s announcement and stated that, should it proceed in September, the United Kingdom would be redressing a historic injustice and fulfilling its historic duty to acknowledge a Palestine state. In certain areas of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Authority has a limited degree of authority.
This story was written by Farnoush Amiri and Edith Lederer at the U.N., Chris Megerian, Ibrahim Hazboun, and Angela Charlton in Paris for the Associated Press.
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