UK will recognise Palestine in September unless Israel ‘takes steps' over Gaza

South Wales Guardian

29-07-2025

The Prime Minister recalled his senior team of ministers from their summer recess to discuss the situation in Gaza, where the population is facing a mounting famine, according to warnings from the United Nations.
A readout of the Cabinet meeting issued by Downing Street said Sir Keir told ministers 'now was the right time to move this position' on the two-state solution.
The readout continued: 'He 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 (UN General Assembly), 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.'
It comes after the Prime Minister had been under increasing pressure to recognise Palestine amid the warnings of starvation in Gaza.
Speaking from Downing Street's state dining room – sometimes used for press statements – the Prime Minister then told reporters that the Government will 'make an assessment in September on how far the parties have met these steps'.
No should 'should have a veto over our decision', Sir Keir insisted.
Sir Keir said the British Government was focused on getting aid into Gaza and getting hostages released when asked why Palestinian recognition was conditional on Israel de-escalating the situation.
He added: 'This is intended to further that course, and it is done now because I am particularly concerned that the very idea of a two-state solution is reducing and feels further away today than it has for many, many years and, therefore, it should be seen in both of those contexts.'
While Sir Keir has suggested UK recognition of Palestine is conditional on the crisis not abating, No 10 is understood to believe that such a two-state solution would also proceed from negotiations towards a sustained peace.
The UK will keep working with its allies to 'end the suffering, get aid flooding into Gaza and deliver a more stable future for the Middle East', Sir Keir said, adding: 'Because I know that is what the British people desperately want to see.'
In a hardening of his language about the crisis in Gaza, the Prime Minister has claimed the British public is 'revolted' by scenes of starvation in the territory.
The UK and its allies need to see 'at least 500 trucks entering Gaza every day' to deliver aid, the Prime Minister added, and are together 'mounting a major effort to get humanitarian supplies back in' by air and by land.
The Prime Minister discussed a UK-led international plan to alleviate the crisis in Gaza with Donald Trump on Monday, when the US president acknowledged there was 'real starvation' in the territory.
Sir Keir has likened the plan he is working on with France and Germany to the coalition of the willing, the international effort to support Ukraine towards a lasting peace.
Amid international alarm over starvation in Gaza, Israel announced at the weekend that it would suspend fighting in three areas for 10 hours a day and open secure routes for aid delivery.
The UK confirmed it was taking part in airdrops of aid into the territory.
Aid agencies have welcomed the new measures but said they were not enough to counter the rising hunger in the Palestinian territory.
Sir Keir has been facing calls from a growing number of MPs to recognise a Palestinian state immediately.
More than 250 cross-party MPs have now signed a letter calling for ministers to take the step, up from 221 on Friday.
Sarah Champion, the senior Labour MP who organised the letter, told BBC Radio 4 the Prime Minister's announcement was 'a really big movement' and would send a message to Israel that the status quo 'is not good enough'.
But she added: 'I am a little concerned though that from what I'm hearing it seems to be conditional on Israel accepting some terms and I don't understand why the two things are being linked together.'
Opposition parties also raised concerns about the conditional nature of the UK's position, with Lib Dem Leader Sir Ed Davey criticising Sir Keir for using Palestinian statehood as a 'bargaining chip', while Plaid Cymru's Liz Saville Roberts called for the 'immediate recognition of Palestine'.
Israel meanwhile said it 'rejects the statement by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom'.
A statement on social media site X, the country's foreign ministry added: '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.'