Gaza latest: Netanyahu says Starmer's pledge for the UK to recognise Palestinian state is ‘reward for Hamas'

Independent

4 days ago

Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Sir Keir Starmer of 'rewarding Hamas' after he said the UK would recognise Palestine unless Israel took urgent steps to end the war in Gaza.
In a statement on Tuesday night, Sir Keir said Israel must agree to a ceasefire and allow unhindered aid into the enclave over the next two months if it wishes to prevent recognition of Palestine.
Israel must also 'commit to a long-term sustainable peace' and 'revive the prospect of a two-state solution' by September, Sir Keir said following an emergency virtual cabinet meeting.
But the Israeli prime minister hit back on X: 'Starmer rewards Hamas's monstrous terrorism & punishes its victims. Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you too. It will not happen."
British charities and MPs have criticised the move, accusing Sir Keir of using Palestinian statehood as a 'bargaining chip'.
The prime minister's announcement came as a UN-backed food security body said the 'worst-case scenario of famine' was playing out in the besieged enclave.
The war on Gaza has killed over 60,000 people since it erupted in October 2023, according to local officials.
Netanyahu accuses Starmer of 'rewarding Hamas' in blistering response to plan to recognise Palestine
Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a furious response after Sir Keir Starmer pledged to recognise Palestine unless Israel takes urgent steps to end the war in Gaza, accusing the prime minister of 'appeasing terrorists'.
Responding on social media, the Israeli prime minister said: 'Starmer rewards Hamas's monstrous terrorism and punishes its victims.'
Netanyahu accuses Starmer of 'rewarding Hamas' in blistering response
'Starmer rewards Hamas's monstrous terrorism and punishes its victims', Benjamin Netanyahu said in a furious statement on social media
Millie Cooke, Political Correspondent30 July 2025 10:00
Hostages Forum says recognising Palestine while hostages remain rewards terrorism
Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters has said recognising a Palestinian state while hostages remain rewards terrorism in response to 'growing European initiatives to recognise a Palestinian state'.
'Recognizing a Palestinian state while 50 hostages remain trapped in Hamas tunnels amounts to rewarding terrorism,' the Forum said.
'Such recognition is not a step toward peace, but rather a clear violation of international law and a dangerous moral and political failure that legitimizes horrific war crimes.'
Steffie Banatvala30 July 2025 09:49
Explained: Who else has recognised Palestinian statehood?
Last year, Ireland, Norway and Spain recognised a Palestinian state with its borders to be demarcated as they were prior to the 1967 Middle East war, when Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
However, they also recognised that those borders may change in any eventual talks to reach a final settlement, and that their decisions did not diminish their belief in Israel's fundamental right to exist in peace and security.
About 144 of the 193 member states of the United Nations recognise Palestine as a state, including most of the global south as well as Russia, China and India.
But only a handful of the 27 European Union members do so, mostly former Communist countries as well as Sweden and Cyprus.
The UN General Assembly approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine in November 2012 by upgrading its observer status at the world body to "non-member state" from "entity".
Steffie Banatvala30 July 2025 09:45
Minister ties herself in knots over conditions for recognition of Palestine
The transport secretary tied herself in knots when she was faced with questions over the conditions for the recognition of Palestine, following pushback to the government's announcement.
There has been growing backlash to the position, with the government facing criticism for using Palestinian statehood as leverage, as well as confusion over whether the release of the hostages held by Hamas will be one of the conditions for recognition.
Millie Cooke, Political Correspondent writes:
Minister ties herself in knots over conditions for recognition of Palestine
The transport secretary said the UK expects 'Hamas to act in the same way as we expect Israel to act' - but later said the decision to recognise Palestine was 'not about Hamas'
Steffie Banatvala30 July 2025 09:30
Opinion: Why has it been so difficult for Britain to recognise the state of Palestine?
In the decades since the 1917 Balfour Declaration, the UK has broadly supported official recognition of a state of Palestine.
So why has it taken more than a century for a government to sign up to it, asks Donald Macintyre:
Why has it been so difficult for Britain to recognise the state of Palestine?
In the decades since the 1917 Balfour Declaration, the UK has broadly supported official recognition of a state of Palestine. So why has it taken more than a century for a government to sign up to it, asks Donald Macintyre
Steffie Banatvala30 July 2025 09:15
US Ambassador to Israel says UN, not Israel to blame for hunger in Gaza
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has said the United Nations, rather than Israel, is to blame for hunger in Gaza.
Huckabee told Newsmax on Tuesday that the UN has not distributed lifesaving food supplies in Gaza and Hamas is also interfering.
'The UN, unfortunately, wouldn't help,' Huckabee said. 'They had 900 trucks full of food, sitting undelivered, sitting in the sun, rotting.'
'What I will tell you is the reason those problems exist is not because Israel is being unkind and unfair,' he said. 'It's because Hamas has made life a hellhole for the people who are trying to live there.'
Steffie Banatvala30 July 2025 09:03
Explained: What would UK recognition of Palestine as a state actually mean?
Here, The Independent asks experts about what the UK recognising Palestinian statehood would mean in practice:
What would UK recognition of Palestine as a state actually mean?
Starmer said Israel must end its starvation tactics and agree to a ceasefire in Gaza, or the UK would recognise a Palestinian state in September. But what does that mean in practice? Tara Cobham explains
Steffie Banatvala30 July 2025 09:00
Chair of UK foreign affairs committee suggests Netanyahu is not an ally of UK
The chair of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee has suggested that Benjamin Netanyahu's government is not an ally of the UK.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, she acknowledged the long term relationship between Britain and Israel, but said the Israeli prime minister's administration is no longer doing what its people want.
'We are long term allies. We remain long term allies. But not with this far right government, not with the way that it is behaving. With Israel and with the Israeli people who are led by a government who is not doing what they want. They want peace," she said.
Millie Cooke, Political Correspondent30 July 2025 08:55
Netanyahu's 'furious' response shows Britain is 'not irrelevant', says senior Labour MP
Benjamin Netanyahu's "furious" response to Sir Keir Starmer's statement on the recognition of Palestine shows Britain is "not irrelevant", the chair of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee has said.
It comes after the Israeli PM issued a statement saying Sir Keir is rewarding "Hamas's monstrous terrorism", adding: "Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you too. It will not happen."
Denying claims that the UK is no longer relevant on the world stage, Emily Thornberry told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "If we were completely irrelevant, why has Netanyahu completely lost it overnight?"
She added: "It's not exactly a considered diplomatic careful statement really. It's a furious statement."
Millie Cooke, Political Correspondent30 July 2025 08:54
What steps did Saudi Arabia, France outline in their declaration?
France and Saudi Arabia's seven-page declaration called for:
An end to the the 22-month war in the Gaza Strip
Release all the hostages
Immediately establish a transitional administrative in Gaza under the umbrella of the Palestinian Authority, which currently exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank under Israeli occupation
The deployment of a temporary international stabilisation mission, mandated by the U.N. Security Council
It calls on Israel to:
Issue a clear public commitment to the two-state solution, including a sovereign and viable Palestinian State
To immediately end violence and incitement against Palestinians
Steffie Banatvala