UK will recognize Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to cease-fire, allows UN aid into Gaza: PM
Starmer, who is under mounting domestic pressure over the issue as scenes of hunger in Gaza horrify many Britons, convened a rare summertime Cabinet meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza. It came after he discussed the crisis with President Donald Trump during a meeting in Scotland on Monday.
The president told reporters he didn't mind Starmer 'taking a position' on statehood.
4 UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his country will recognize Palestinian statehood in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire and allows the UN to bring aid into Gaza.
Getty Images
Starmer said Tuesday that Britain will recognize a state of Palestine before the United Nations General Assembly, 'unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a cease-fire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution.
'And this includes allowing the UN to restart the supply of aid, and making clear there will be no annexations in the West Bank,' he said.
It seems highly unlikely that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu could meet the conditions, which cut to the heart of the most intractable issues in the conflict. Netanyahu rejects the two-state solution on both nationalistic and security grounds.
Israel's foreign ministry said it rejected the British statement.
'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 cease-fire in Gaza and a framework for the release of hostages,' the ministry said on X.
4 Palestinians climbing onto trucks carrying aid in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on July 29, 2025.
REUTERS
Starmer also repeated UK demands that Hamas release all the hostages it holds, agree to a cease-fire, disarm and 'accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza.'
Starmer said in a televised statement that his government will assess in September 'how far the parties have met these steps' before making a final decision on recognition.
Britain has long supported the idea of an independent Palestinian state existing alongside Israel, but has said recognition should come as part of a negotiated two-state solution to the conflict.
4 Palestinians carrying sacks of aid in Beit Lahia.
REUTERS
But Starmer said Tuesday Britain was willing to take the step because 'the very idea of a two-state solution is reducing and feels further away today than it has for many years.'
He said that despite the set of conditions he set out, Britain believes that 'statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people.'
Pressure to formally recognize Palestinian statehood has mounted since French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country will become the first major Western power to recognize a Palestinian state in September.
More than 250 of the 650 lawmakers in the House of Commons have signed a letter urging the government to recognize a Palestinian state.
4 Palestinian mother Naima Abu Ful with her malnourished 2-year-old son Yazan at their home in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on July 23, 2025.
AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi
More than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state, including a dozen in Europe. Macron's announcement last week make France is the first Group of Seven country and the largest European nation to take that step.
As with France, British recognition would be largely symbolic, but could increase diplomatic pressure for an end to the conflict – especially as Starmer appears to have the tacit approval of Trump.
Britain has a particular historic role as the former governing power of what was then Palestine and author of the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which backed the establishment of a Jewish homeland.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Britain bore a 'special burden of responsibility.'
'Our support for Israel, its right to exist, and the security of its people, is steadfast,' Lammy told a meeting at the UN in New York on Tuesday. 'However, the Balfour Declaration came with the solemn promise that nothing shall be done, nothing which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of the Palestinian people as well. And colleagues, this has not been upheld, and it is a historical injustice which continues to unfold.'
France welcomed Britain's announcement.
″The United Kingdom is joining the momentum created by France for the recognition of the state of Palestine,' French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot posted on X.
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Los Angeles Times
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Two hospitals in southern and central Gaza reported receiving bodies from routes leading to the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid sites, including 11 killed in the Teina area while trying to reach a distribution point in Khan Younis. Three Palestinian eyewitnesses, including one traveling through Teina, told The Associated Press that shootings occurred on the routes, which are in military zones secured by Israeli forces. They said they saw soldiers open fire on hungry crowds advancing toward troops. Eyewitnesses seeking food have reported similar gunfire in recent weeks near aid distribution sites. The United Nations says 859 people were killed near GHF sites from May 27 to July 31 and hundreds of others have been killed along the routes of U.N.-led food convoys. GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. Israel's military has said it only fires warning shots. Both claim the death tolls have been exaggerated. Israel's military did not immediately respond to questions about Sunday's reported fatalities but said it was reviewing the Red Crescent's claim. GHF's media office said there was no gunfire 'near or at our sites.' More deaths from hunger Meanwhile, Gaza's Health Ministry said six more Palestinian adults died of malnutrition-related causes over the past 24 hours, bringing the malnutrition-related death toll among adults to 82 over the five weeks that the ministry has counted such deaths. Malnutrition-related deaths are not included in the ministry's count of war casualties. Ninety-three children have also died of malnutrition-related causes since the war began, the ministry said. Israel has taken steps in the past week to increase the flow of food into Gaza, saying 1,200 aid trucks have entered while hundreds of pallets have been airdropped, but U.N. and relief groups say conditions have not improved. The U.N. has said 500 to 600 trucks a day are needed. Anger has led to protests overseas, including one in Australia on Sunday by thousands of people. The 2023 attack that sparked the war killed about 1,200 people and abducted another 251. Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 60,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, is staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable count of casualties. Israel has disputed its figures but hasn't provided its own account of casualties. ___ Metz reported from Jerusalem and Magdy from Cairo. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at Solve the daily Crossword
