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Telegraph
16 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Starmer has no plan for Middle East peace
The Prime Minister's statement to Cabinet included several valuable steps to relieve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. He is to be commended for sending food supplies, for delivering them by air drops if necessary, and for offering treatment to Palestinian children with serious medical conditions in the UK. The British public is always generous in such dire circumstances and on this front Sir Keir will have the nation's support. But his promise to recognise a State of Palestine in September unless Israel fulfils a series of improbable conditions is neither realistic nor justifiable. In Jerusalem, Sir Keir's demands will be met with cynicism: they look like an ultimatum addressed only to one side, dictated by the arbitrary deadline of the UN General Assembly. Indeed, the Prime Minister appears to be falling in line with Emmanuel Macron, rather than paying attention to Donald Trump, who has already indicated that he will veto any such recognition of Palestine. There is, moreover, a contradiction at the heart of Sir Keir's strategy. He insists that 'there would be no role for Hamas in future governance', but demands that Israel desist from removing Hamas by force. Yet the West has no leverage over this terrorist organisation and his plan offers no practical way to exclude Hamas from control of Gaza – a key part of the proposed Palestinian state. While Hamas – which began the war with its hideous massacre on October 7 2023 – is let off lightly, Israel is made to bear all the responsibility for bringing it to an end. Yet it takes both sides to end hostilities – and Hamas refuses even to release its hostages, let alone surrender. Israel must acquiesce forthwith in the creation of a potentially hostile neighbouring state, the territories and military status of which are not even vaguely specified by Sir Keir's peace plan. He calls on Hamas to 'disarm', but imposes no such condition on a future Palestinian state. Yet after the shock of October 7, not only the present Israeli government, but any future one would only countenance a two-state solution with a demilitarised Palestine. The Starmer peace plan looks at best a naive bid for a seat at the negotiating table, at worst a calculated attempt to appease Labour's pro-Gaza faction and to stave off the threat of Jeremy Corbyn's new far-Left party. Sir Keir is likely to fail on both fronts. He would have done better to focus on sending aid and steer a cautious, moderate course towards Israel.
South Wales Guardian
16 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Keir Starmer says UK will recognise Palestine by September
The Prime Minister has given a deadline for the next United Nations meeting on September 9. According to a written handout of the cabinet meeting he held earlier today (Tuesday, July 29), Starmer said this would happen "unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza". It added that they needed to reach a ceasefire, make clear there will be no annexation in the West Bank, and commit to a long-term peace process that delivers a two-state solution. BREAKING: Keir Starmer announces UK 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 ceasefire and commits to a two-state solution. This news comes after the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) issued an alert saying "the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip," BBC News reports. The alert from the UN-backed review says: "Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths". Israel has been engaged in conflict with the militant group Hamas in Palestine, which has led to this situation. Starmer said that while air drops of aid have started today, he wants to see at least 500 trucks of aid per day enter Gaza. BREAKING: Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced the UK will recognise Palestine as a state by the United Nations meeting in September, unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire. Read more: 📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube Starmer says the time to recognise Palestine is now, as it will have the highest impact, as the hope of a two-state solution - a "secure" Israel alongside a "viable" Palestinian state - is at risk. A further excerpt from the cabinet meeting readout said: "[The PM] 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." Starmer reiterated that there is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas and that the UK's demands on Hamas remain. Recommended Reading Viral petition to repeal 'pointless' Online Safety Act reaches 340K signatures Keir Starmer suspends 3 Labour MPs amid breaches in party discipline Plans to 'put more money in people's pockets' in bid to boost homeownership This is 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. Starmer is committed to making an assessment ahead of the summit on how far the parties have met these steps before making a final decision. French President Emmanuel Macron had previously said France would recognise a Palestinian state at the same United Nations summit.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
This is the darkest day in British foreign policy since the invasion of Iraq
What on Earth is Keir Starmer playing at? His threat to recognise a state of Palestine unless Israel obeys his imperious demands, against the interests of its own citizens, avoids contact with reality and constitutes an abysmal betrayal. First, the emperor of Downing Street has commanded the Jewish state to end the war in Gaza. Would that be with or without its hostages, Prime Minister? With or without Hamas remaining in power? Because if Israelis remain in captivity and Hamas remains in place, further rounds of bloodshed are a certainty, extending the suffering down generations. These are the hard realities that the Israelis must consider, although Starmer has the luxury of ignoring them. Secondly, the PM wants Israel to allow the United Nations to retake control of aid distribution. But the reason Jerusalem intervened was that it believed the UN was working hand-in-glove with Hamas, which was taking much of the aid and selling it at inflated prices, raising the money it needed to pay its fighters. Surely not? Surely yes. According to Israeli intelligence, ten per cent of UN employees in Gaza, about 1,200 men, are card-carrying members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad, and terrorists have made good use of UN facilities. About 12 members of UN staff were allegedly involved in the October 7 atrocities. The UN aid operation was keeping Hamas in power. Without that source of income, the jihadi grip on the Strip was weakening. That is exactly why Hamas made returning aid to UN hands a key negotiating demand. Ramallah has repeatedly turned down offers of a state that satisfied 100 per cent of its demands. In 2008, for instance, Ehud Olmert offered 94 per cent of the West Bank with land swaps for the remainder, East Jerusalem as a Palestinian capital and the Old City turned over to international control, not to mention a tunnel between the West Bank and Gaza and the right of return for quotas of diaspora Palestinians. The Palestinians missed the opportunity. Why? Because their government was playing a long game to destroy the Jewish state using both the bullet and the ballot, both the suicide bomb and international diplomacy. I'm not just talking about Hamas. Even the regime in Ramallah pays monetary rewards to anybody convicted of terrorism and failed to condemn October 7 until last month. Take a step back and the Prime Minister's blind betrayal of the Jewish state is breathtaking. Of course the war is horrendous; of course the Israeli government includes some regrettable far-Right figures; of course mistakes have been made. But how would Starmer's Britain fare if we were invaded by jihadis, saw 1,200 of our citizens butchered, lost 258 hostages, and faced an enemy embedded in tunnels beneath one of the most densely-populated areas on Earth? I shudder to think. Here are the facts. Israel did not start this war. Israel did not want conflict; it withdrew from Gaza in 2005, handing the keys to the Palestinians, who then lost control of the territory to Hamas. Israel is not trying to kill, starve or oppress civilians. It is simply trying to defeat the enemy that attacked its people so brutally almost two years ago, and get its hostages back. Is that really so much to ask? As messy and imperfect as any democracy may be, you'd have thought that the international community would understand that it is preferable to jihadism, and stand firm until the war is won. Instead, we have all the pressure piling up on Israel, and nothing at all upon the Palestinian side, let alone upon Hamas. Worst of all, Starmer's treachery is emboldening the jihadis. Why should they release the hostages and surrender when the world is on their side? International condemnation of Israel was the main reason why Hamas hardened its negotiating position in Qatar last week, resulting in the talks failing. Rather than a ceasefire deal, Hamas found itself delightedly congratulating Emmanuel Macron on his proposal to recognise Palestine, and encouraging other countries to do the same. The international community has created an environment in which it is in the interests of Hamas to keep the Palestinians starving, keep the war going, and to keep the hostages in the catacombs. At this point, it is no exaggeration to suggest that Starmer and the other turncoats are doing exactly what Hamas wants them to. And it will only produce one outcome: more cycles of violence in the future. Why is the Prime Minister doing this? A look at some of the Labour MPs who are pressing him to take this action is revealing. Shabana Mahmood, whose Birmingham Ladywell constituency has a Muslim population of 46 per cent. Wes Streeting, whose Ilford North seat is 23 per cent Muslim (he won it by only 528 votes). A pattern emerges here. The fact that Starmer appears to care more about domestic politics than he does about true peace in the Middle East is as hypocritical as it is deplorable. The worst of it is that Hamas predicted this all along. Yahya Sinwar knew that October 7 would trigger a war; as a student of recent history, he also understood that before long, the West would side with him. All he had to do was ensure a steady stream of footage of suffering Palestinian civilians, whether genuine, exaggerated or fabricated. He knew our leaders would fall for it. This is the darkest day in British foreign policy since the invasion of Iraq.
