Bending to pressure from within his leftist Labour Party, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Tuesday that the United Kingdom plans to recognize Palestine as a state in September alongside France.
After facing growing internal calls from the Labour backbenches and members of his own cabinet, Prime Minister Starmer said that the UK plans to officially recognize Palestinian statehood at the next meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in September unless Israel takes “substantive” steps to improve the “appalling” situation in Gaza, the BBC reports.
Starmer said that he made the decision now because he was “particularly concerned that the idea of a two-state solution is reducing and feels further away today than it has for many years”.
In a statement from Downing Street, the government said per The Times of London: “He [Starmer] said that because of the increasingly intolerable situation in Gaza and the diminishing prospect of a peace process towards a two-state solution, now was the right time to move this position forward.
“He said that the UK will recognise the state of Palestine in September, before UNGA, unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, reaches a ceasefire, makes clear there will be no annexation in the West Bank, and commits to a long-term peace process that delivers a two-state solution.
“He reiterated that there is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas and that our demands on Hamas remain, that they must release all the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, accept that they will play no role in the government of Gaza, and disarm.”
The move comes amid mounting pressure from within Starmer’s left-wing Labour Party, with over 230 backbench MPs demanding the government recognize Palestine as a state, despite the territory having no defined borders or a democratically legitimate government after decades of the ruling Hamas terror group refusing to allow elections in Gaza.
Additionally, members of Starmer’s cabinet have also made the demand, reportedly including Deputy PM Angela Rayner, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, and Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
Starmer is also facing a potential fracture of his base, with former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn launching a new political party with hard-left MP Zarah Sultana. Corbyn, who has a history of defending terror groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, was one of five MPs to be elected at the last election, courting the British Muslim vote by running on a primarily pro-Gaza platform.
Should Starmer follow through with the plans to recognize Palestine as a state, he would be following French President Emmanuel Macron, who vowed last week to do the same at the UN General Assembly meeting in September. Other left-wing run nations, Norway, Ireland, and Spain, backed Palestinian statehood in May.
The announcement also conveniently came after Starmer’s meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, who, alongside Israel, opposes such a move. Prior to the meeting with Trump, Starmer’s government, alongside Germany and Italy, signalled that it would not follow France’s lead.
Responding to Starmer, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “Israel rejects the statement by the prime minister of the United Kingdom.
“The shift in the British government’s 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.”
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