The United Kingdom will formally recognise the state of Palestine this September as a result of the “increasingly intolerable” situation on the ground in Gaza, unless Israel abides by a ceasefire and commits to a two-state solution in the Middle East, said multiple reports.
The UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s cabinet has reportedly 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.
Starmer 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 “not mind” the UK taking a position, even if he would not.
The British Prime Minister 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.
“Ultimately, the only way to bring this humanitarian crisis to an end is through a long-term settlement,” he told reporters. “Our 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.”
He further said: “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. With that solution now under threat, this is the moment to act.”
A report in The Guardian said that UN-backed experts said a “worst-case scenario of famine” 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.
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.
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. 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.
In a significant shift in the UK’s 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.
