UK to recognise Palestinian state by September if no Gaza ceasefire reached
The UK will recognise a Palestinian state by September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip by then, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Tuesday.
In a statement that came amid mounting international outcry over the genocide unfolding in the besieged Palestinian enclave, Starmer said he was "determined to protect the viability of the two-state solution."
"I have always said that we will recognise a Palestinian state as a contribution to a proper peace process at the moment of maximum impact for the two-state solution," Starmer said after holding an emergency cabinet meeting in London.
"With that solution now under threat, this is the moment to act," he added.
"Ultimately, the only way to bring this humanitarian crisis to an end is through a long-term settlement."
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Starmer said that any ceasefire in Gaza had to be "sustainable" and pave the way for negotiations on a two-state solution. He added that the UK "will make an assessment in September" as to whether Israel had met its conditions to prevent recognition of a Palestinian state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu office responded to the announcement by saying on X: "Starmer rewards Hamas's monstrous terrorism & punishes its victims. A jihadist state on Israel's border TODAY will threaten Britain TOMORROW."
Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for crimes against humanity and war crimes, mainly related to the use of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.
US President Donald Trump, who met Starmer on Monday while visiting Scotland, said on his flight home that he had "no view" on the announcement.
'A Palestinian state is not a threat to frighten the Israeli government into action after 21 months of relentless war and destruction'
- Hannah Bond, ActionAid UK
However after their Monday meeting, Trump had said he wouldn't "mind" the UK taking a position on Palestinian statehood.
He said the focus was on "getting people fed right now" in Gaza, stating "starvation" was severely afflicting people in the enclave.
Chris Doyle, the director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, condemned Starmer's conditioned call for Palestinian statehood.
"This is such a fudge. Recognition of Palestine should not be linked to Israeli conduct in Gaza and the West Bank or even Hamas or the Palestinian Authority," he said on X.
"Recognition is about acknowledging rights of a people to nationhood, not a tool of pressure."
'Dangled like a bargaining chip'
The British charity ActionAid UK also criticised Starmer's announcement, saying it was "appalled to see Palestinian statehood dangled like a bargaining chip."
"A Palestinian state is not a threat to frighten the Israeli government into action after 21 months of relentless war and destruction," co-CEO Hannah Bond said in a statement.
"It is an unconditional and inalienable right to self-determination."
Last week France also announced it would officially recognise a Palestinian state in September - becoming the first of the G7 group of the world's richest countries to do so.
French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot welcomed the UK's decision, saying it was "joining the momentum initiated by France for the recognition of the state of Palestine".
"Together, through this pivotal decision and our combined efforts, we are putting an end to the endless cycle of violence and reopening the prospect of peace in the region," Barrot said.
"Nothing can stand in the way of a just and clear idea."
In Tuesday's announcement, Starmer said he was declaring the plan now because of the "intolerable situation" in Gaza and concern that "the very possibility of a two-state solution is reducing".
He said that the UK's goal of "a safe secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state" was "under pressure like never before."
Last week, Israel's parliament approved a motion calling for the annexation of the occupied West Bank, the latest move in an ongoing campaign to strengthen Israel's hold on the occupied Palestinian territory.
The proposal is non-binding and serves largely as a symbolic gesture that does not affect the legal status of the West Bank but will help build momentum towards a possible move on the territory, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.
The Israeli humans rights group B'Tselem and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) documented more than 1,200 incidents of violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in 2024 alone, with an average of three attacks per day.
Palestinian farmers and shepherds are routinely subjected to abuse, including the burning of trees, the theft of tools, the demolition of homes and pastures, the arrest of shepherds, and the imposition of heavy fines by the Israeli authorities.
'Alarming and deadly turning point'
Earlier on Tuesday, a UN-backed global food security body said famine was unfolding across Gaza, with one in three children in Gaza City acutely malnourished.
"Latest data indicates that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City,” the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said in a new report.
"Amid relentless conflict, mass displacement, severely restricted humanitarian access, and the collapse of essential services, including healthcare, the crisis has reached an alarming and deadly turning point."
The warning comes as nearly 150 Palestinian children and adults in Gaza have succumbed to death from starvation since Israel's onslaught on Gaza in October 2023.
The blockade on the Palestinian enclave has fluctuated in intensity, but since 2 March, Israel has prevented all food and aid from reaching starving Palestinians.
Last week, more than 100 international human rights and humanitarian organisations called for an end to the siege, citing widespread starvation affecting their staff.
Unrwa communications director Juliette Touma also told MEE last week that several of the organisation's staff fainted on duty due to malnutrition.
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