Will the UK recognising the State of Palestine make any difference?
After much wavering, the UK government announced on Tuesday its intention to recognise the State of Palestine in September - albeit with several conditions attached - one week after France made a similar announcement.
These developments indicate a growing consensus among erstwhile allies of Israel for fundamental change as a result of Israel's prolonged war on Gaza and its refusal to countenance a Palestinian state.
The move has brought predictable condemnation from Israel and the US, but also been criticised by some who see it as a largely symbolic and ineffective gesture "that will fall short" without additional pressure.
How many countries recognise the state of Palestine?
At the time of writing, the majority of UN members - 147 of 193 - now recognise a Palestinian state, with opposition confined mainly to Western Europe and North America.
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The State of Palestine was first declared in 1988 by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), which is the umbrella organisation recognised as representing the interests of the Palestinian people.
By February 1989, it had been recognised by 93 countries.
Although not made explicit at the time, there was an understanding that the declaration indicated PLO support for a two-state solution, rather than its long-standing position of a single state in historic Palestine.
The 1993 Oslo Accords confirmed the joint goal of a negotiated two-state solution and official PLO recognition of the state of Israel.
Why no recognition from the UK?
The Oslo Accords stipulated that the creation of an independent Palestinian state would come about as a result of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and would see mutual recognition agreements between the two sides.
Since the Accords were signed, there has been a consensus among most of Israel's allies that no Palestinian state would be recognised without Israel's consent.
In Western Europe, no country unilaterally recognised Palestinian statehood until Iceland in 2011. It was in contrast to many Eastern European countries, which, even after the fall of communism, retained their Soviet-era recognition agreements.
When did the West start recognising Palestine?
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) collapsed in 2014.
Since then, there has been a gradual acceptance internationally that Israel would never accept a Palestinian state.
In 2014, Sweden announced it was recognising Palestine, calling it an "important step that confirms the Palestinians’ right to self-determination" and saying they hoped it would lead to "making the parties less unequal".
The UK parliament also voted in favour of recognising a Palestinian state in 2014, although the bill was non-binding and the Conservative-led government at the time ignored the result.
It would be another 10 years before more Western European countries followed Sweden's example, with Norway, Spain and Ireland announcing recognition in May 2024 amid Israel's war on Gaza.
What does UK recognition mean in practice?
Much has been made of the symbolic value of recognising a Palestinian state. Apart from putting a clear distance between the UK government and the Israeli government - which, along with its parliament, opposes the creation of a Palestinian state - it also acknowledges Palestinians' right to self-determination.
The announcement from Starmer comes more than a century after the Balfour Declaration of 1917 promised Zionists a homeland for the Jewish people and 105 years after the UK took control of the region with its Mandate for Palestine.
The move by London is regarded as helping cement the idea of a two-state solution as the only possible answer for peace in the region and in contrast to proposals for full Israeli sovereignty or a single secular state.
But the practical impact is likely to be limited. Relations between the UK and the PA have been long established.
That said, there may be a theoretical upgrading of Palestine's diplomatic mission in the UK to full embassy status.
The announcement has also solidified the idea that the Israel-Palestine conflict is between two nation-states rather than a question of occupation.
Josh Paul served in the US State Department during the administration of President Joe Biden until he resigned in October 2023 due to Washington's policy in Gaza.
In December 2023, he wrote about the recognition of Palestinian statehood: "[Such a] change would set the ground for permanent status negotiations between Israel and Palestine, not as a set of concessions between the occupier and the occupied, but between two entities that are equal in the eyes of international law.
"Disputes, such as over the status of Jerusalem or control over borders, water rights and airwaves, can be settled through established global arbitration mechanisms."
Will the UK recognise Palestine?
The UK government's promise to recognise a Palestinian state in September is conditional on Israel's failing to amend its behaviour.
The recognition would come, the government said, if the Israeli government does not take "substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza and commits to a long-term, sustainable peace, including through allowing the UN to restart without delay the supply of humanitarian support to the people of Gaza to end starvation, agreeing to a ceasefire, and making clear there will be no annexations in the West Bank".
Though the threshold appears high, some have criticised the announcement as a "fudge" and say it uses the Palestinians' inalienable right to self-determination as a stick with which to beat Israel.
Other political leaders in the UK also said that the move should not be conditional and that it needed to be accompanied by concrete action.
"Recognition of the state of Palestine should not be used as a bargaining chip," wrote Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey on X.
"It should have happened months ago. We also need far greater action to stop the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, including fully ceasing arms sales and implementing sanctions against the Israeli cabinet."
Other political leaders were more critical. Reform leader Nigel Farage said the move would "reward Hamas", while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said it was "not the time."
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