UK To Recognize Palestine State By Fall Unless Israel Stops War

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK would formally recognize a Palestinian state by the United Nations General Assembly in September if Israel does not stop its war in Gaza.

“The UK will recognize the state of Palestine in September, before UNGA, 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,” Starmer’s office said in a statement following an emergency meeting of his cabinet on Tuesday afternoon. The prime minster then repeated that pledge in a televised press conference.

“We see starving babies, children too weak to stand, images that will stay with us for a lifetime,” Starmer said. “This must end.”

The British premier — who spoke about the situation in Gaza this week with Donald Trump during the US President’s visit to Scotland — is seeking to show he’s seized of the issue after domestic pressure ratcheted up for him to recognize Palestine. Cabinet ministers, opposition parties and backbench Members of Parliament have all called on him to follow the lead of French President Emmanuel Macron, who said last week that he would formally endorse Palestinian statehood at the UN gathering, prompting a backlash from the US and Israel.