Keir Starmer Announces UK Will Recognise Palestinian State Unless Israel Meets Conditions
2 min read
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has committed conditional support to recognising a Palestinian state in September.
The Prime Minister told the cabinet that his government would take this action unless the Israeli government decided to end the war and reach a ceasefire, commit to a long-term peace process and end annexation of the West Bank.
Starmer told ministers there was no moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas. Starmer said the UK will not accept Hamas playing any role in the government of Gaza, and that it should disarm and release all the remaining hostages.
The Prime Minister also reiterated that recognising a Palestinian state has been the government’s long-standing position. Labour promised to recognise one as part of the peace process in its 2024 manifesto.
The Prime Minister committed to make an assessment ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in September on how far both Israeli and Palestinian parties had come before making the final decision. He added that he had decided to protect the vision of securing a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
He has said his overwhelming priority was to make sure a ceasefire between both parties would last in the future. Starmer discussed this with French President Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Fredrick Merz to develop a pathway to peace in Gaza.
The news comes after Macron signed up to recognising a Palestinian state in September, after weeks of attempting to urge the British government to follow suit.
Cabinet ministers have been pressuring Starmer to harden his stance on Israel and in turn recognise a Palestinian state. Those most in favour of recognising a state include Wes Streeting, Ed Miliband, Shabana Mahmood, David Lammy and Angela Rayner.
In the Middle East, Egyptian and Jordanian aid trucks entered Gaza, and the IDF began airdropping aid into the Gaza Strip this week after reports that famine could grip the Gaza strip.
The war in Gaza began after Hamas invaded Israel and killed more than 1,200 on Israel’s southern border. The Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, has stated that almost 60,000 have been killed in the war since October 7.
