\n<\/p>\n
The UK will formally recognise the state of Palestine this September as a result of the \u201cincreasingly intolerable\u201d situation on the ground in Gaza, unless Israel abides by a ceasefire and commits to a two-state solution in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Keir Starmer\u2019s cabinet has agreed a roadmap for peace in the region after coming under intense domestic pressure over the mounting humanitarian crisis in the territory, and calls to follow France in acknowledging statehood.<\/p>\n
The prime minister recalled his cabinet from their summer break to approve the plan after holding talks with Donald Trump in Scotland. The US president said the issue had not come up, but that he did \u201cnot mind\u201d the UK taking a position, even if he would not.<\/p>\n
Starmer told his ministers that, because of the catastrophic situation on the ground in Gaza and the diminishing prospect of reaching a two-state solution, now was the right time to finally move.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, the only way to bring this humanitarian crisis to an end is through a long-term settlement,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cOur goal remains a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state, but right now, that goal is under pressure like never before.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cI 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. With that solution now under threat, this is the moment to act.\u201d<\/p>\n
UN-backed experts said a \u201cworst-case scenario of famine\u201d was playing out in Gaza as the World Food Programme (WFP) described the hunger crisis in the territory as the worst seen this century, comparing it to previous famines in Ethiopia and Biafra. Israel has denied its actions in Gaza have caused famine.<\/p>\n
It came as the death toll from Israeli attacks in the war passed 60,000 people according to Gaza health ministry figures, almost half of them women and children.<\/p>\n
Israel has repeatedly limited aid trucks reaching Gaza during 22 months of war, and halted shipments entirely for six weeks at the start of the war, and between March and mid-May this year.<\/p>\n
Shipments are below levels needed to cover basic needs and the WFP says only about half of the aid it has requested to enter Gaza is reaching the territory after Israel eased restrictions over the weekend.<\/p>\n
In a significant shift in the UK\u2019s approach, Starmer said that recognition would take place before the UN general assembly in New York this September, unless Israel agreed to a series of conditions set out in the UK-led eight-point peace plan, and backed by allies.<\/p>\n
These were for Israel to take \u201csubstantive steps\u201d to end the situation in Gaza, reach a ceasefire, commit to no annexation in the West Bank, as well as a long-term peace process. Starmer spoke to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, before the announcement.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s foreign ministry last night told Starmer it \u201crejects\u201d his statement, which it said on social media site X amounted to a \u201creward for Hamas\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe shift in the British government\u2019s position at this time, following the French move and internal political pressures, constitutes a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of hostages,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu posted on X that Starmer had rewarded \u201cHamas\u2019s monstrous terrorism\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cA jihadist state on Israel\u2019s border today will threaten Britain tomorrow,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The UK government also repeated its existing demands of Hamas, which it said must release all hostages immediately, disarm, sign up to a ceasefire and accept it would play no role in the government of Gaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll make an assessment in September on how far the parties have met these steps, but no one should have a veto over our decision,\u201d the prime minister added.<\/p>\n
However, there was some domestic pushback from the Liberal Democrats and the Greens against the government using the prospect of statehood as a \u201cbargaining chip\u201d. They both argued the UK should recognise Palestine immediately.<\/p>\n
The UK roadmap follows an agreement to work towards \u201clasting peace\u201d in the region with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, at the weekend. Starmer planned to spend Tuesday evening on calls to allies, including Gulf states.<\/p>\n
After their talks in Scotland on Monday, Trump removed a key obstacle to the UK recognising a Palestinian state, signalling the US \u2013 one of Israel\u2019s strongest backers \u2013 would not object to such a move. He also expressed concern at images of children starving in the territory.<\/p>\n
However, a spokesperson for the US state department on Tuesday evening called Starmer\u2019s remarks a \u201cslap in the face for the victims of October 7\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives one group hope, and that\u2019s Hamas. It is a rewarding of that kind of behaviour,\u201d Tammy Bruce said, adding: \u201cThere\u2019s one group that benefits from the images, the reality of the horribleness, and that\u2019s Hamas. And so there\u2019s a reason why they don\u2019t cooperate and stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Downing Street had insisted that formal recognition of Palestine was a matter of \u201cwhen, not if\u201d, with the Labour government facing calls to take further action as UK public opinion hardened over horrific scenes on the ground.<\/p>\n
Britons are in favour of recognition by more than three to one, according to polling by Survation, which shows 49% of people in favour, and only 13% opposed. It also suggested that, by a margin of almost five to one, people wanted the government to be more critical of Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Starmer told reporters the humanitarian situation, which was \u201cgetting worse by the day\u201d, was behind the timing of the UK\u2019s decision, along with concerns that the possibility of a two-state solution was receding. The UK has worked with Jordan to drop 20 tonnes of aid by air in recent days.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been saying for some considerable time now we need to get more aid in at volume and at speed, and the situation now is absolutely catastrophic, which is why I\u2019ve taken this decision today in relation to the two-state solution and the recognition of Palestine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Guardian revealed last week that Starmer was under pressure from cabinet ministers for the UK to immediately recognise Palestine as a state, joining almost 140 other countries, as global outcry grew over Israel\u2019s killing of starving civilians in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, and Wes Streeting, the health secretary, are understood to have been among them, while more than a third of Labour MPs signed a letter backing recognition.<\/p>\n
Announcing the move at the UN, foreign secretary David Lammy said the UK hoped it could affect the situation on the ground in Gaza over the next eight weeks.<\/p>\n
He added the UK, which first supported the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine in 1917, bore a \u201cspecial burden of responsibility\u201d to back a two-state solution.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Netanyahu government\u2019s rejection of a two-state solution is wrong; it\u2019s wrong morally; and it\u2019s wrong strategically. It harms the interests of the Israeli people, closing off the only path to a just and lasting peace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The UK will formally recognise the state of Palestine this September as a result of the \u201cincreasingly intolerable\u201d situation on the ground in Gaza, unless Israel abides by a ceasefire and commits to a two-state solution in the Middle East. Keir Starmer\u2019s cabinet has agreed a roadmap for peace in the region after coming under<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[1893,258,518,214,1240,328,5799,3163,199],"class_list":{"0":"post-12958","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics","8":"tag-ceasefire","9":"tag-foreign","10":"tag-holds","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-palestine","13":"tag-policy","14":"tag-recognise","15":"tag-september","16":"tag-state"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}