Sir Keir Starmer has announced the UK’s recognition of a Palestinian state, in what represents a significant change in government policy.
In a video statement on X, the prime minister said: “In the face of the growing horror in the Middle East, we are acting to keep alive the possibility of peace and a two-state solution.”
Australia and Canada also announced formal recognition of the state of Palestine, with Portugal and France expected to follow.
The decision has drawn fierce criticism from the Israeli government, families of hostages held in Gaza and some Conservatives. Responding on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a Palestinian state “will not happen”.
Saying he had “a clear message” to the leaders who had declared recognition, he added: “You are giving a huge reward to terrorism”.
Both the Israeli and US governments say recognition is a diplomatic gift for Hamas following its attack in southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
Sir Keir insisted the decision “is not a reward for Hamas” because it means Hamas can have “no future, no role in government, no role in security”.
“Our call for a genuine two-state solution is the exact opposite of [Hamas’s] hateful vision,” he said.
The move is a “pledge to the Palestinian and Israeli people that there can be a better future”, he continued, adding the “starvation and devastation [in Gaza] are utterly intolerable” and the “death and destruction horrifies all of us”.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the decision, which Sir Keir had confirmed in a letter to the leader, saying it would help pave the way for the “state of Palestine to live side by side with the state of Israel in security, peace and good neighbourliness”.
The Foreign Office said it means the UK “recognises Palestinian statehood over provisional borders, based on 1967 lines with equal land swaps, to be finalised as part of future negotiations”.
The two-state solution refers to the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital, broadly along the lines that existed prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
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