Britain will recognise the state of Palestine in September unless Israel ends the “appalling situation in Gaza”, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
After recalling his senior ministers for an emergency cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the prime minister said “now was the right time to move this position” on the two-state solution.
In an ultimatum to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, Sir Keir said: “The UK will recognise the state of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September, unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire, and commit to a long-term sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution.”
He added that the UN must also be allowed to restart the supply of aid, following global outcry over images of starving children that have dominated the world’s media and a series of warnings about the growing humanitarian crisis in the territory.
The prime minister added: “Meanwhile, our message to the terrorists of Hamas is unchanged but unequivocal: they must immediately release all of the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza.
“And we’ll make an assessment in September on how far the parties have met these steps, but no one should have a veto over our decision.
“So this is the way forward.
“We will keep working with all our international partners to end the suffering, get aid flooding into Gaza and deliver a more stable future for the Middle East, because I know that is what the British people desperately want to see.”
Explaining an apparent change in policy, Sir Keir said he was concerned that if a Palestinian state was not recognised now then there may not be a state to recognise soon.
He said: “In relation to the two-state solution of the recognition of Palestine – this is the longstanding Labour Party policy, it was in our manifesto. We talked about the right of the Palestinians to recognition, and we’ve always said that would be part of the process, that it would be an important part of the point of we thought it would have maximum impact.
“It’s driven today by two things, judging the context in the intolerable situation in Gaza, which is getting worse by the day, but also because of the concern that the very possibility 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.”
The prime minister held the emergency virtual cabinet meeting where he laid out his plan for peace agreed over the weekend with French President Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Pressure had been mounting on Sir Keir to recognise Palestine as a state, but the decision to put the ball in the Israeli government’s court was a compromise to satisfy two competing factions in his cabinet.
Senior cabinet members who support plans to recognise a Palestinian state include deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, justice secretary Shabana Mahmood, energy secretary Ed Miliband and foreign secretary David Lammy.
Mr Lammy is at a conference in New York discussing recognising Palestine as a state where he is due to speak.
But on the other side chancellor Rachel Reeves, tech secretary Peter Kyle, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden, who have been officers of Labour Friends of Israel (LFI), were worried recognition would “reward Hamas”.
Politically Sir Keir had been helped by Donald Trump when they met in Scotland on Monday, where the US president said he did not object to the prime minister taking a position on state recognition.
This undermined the US State Department’s opposition to the move, expressed angrily by secretary of state Marco Rubio last week, when President Macron announced France would recognise a Palestinian state.
Sir Keir said he had discussed the suffering in Gaza with Donald Trump, as he pledged to mount a “major effort to get humanitarian supplies back in”.
The Prime Minister said in his statement: “The Palestinian people have endured terrible suffering now in Gaza because of a catastrophic failure of aid.
“We see starving babies, children too weak to stand, images that will stay with us for a lifetime. The suffering must end.
“Yesterday, I discussed this with President Trump, and we’re mounting a major effort to get humanitarian supplies back in by air – and UK aid has been air-dropped into Gaza today – and, crucially, by land.”
Added to that more than 250 MPs from nine different parties have called for Palestine to be recognised as a state. This included more than 90 of the new Labour MPs elected last year.
Labour MP Sarah Champion, who organised the letter from MPs demanding recognition of a Palestinian state, said: “It’s a really big moment… It will politically be a very strong message that we are sending to Israel: that we believe in the self-determination of the Palestinian people and that she status quo is not good enough.”
Speaking in New York, Mr Lammy said the UK bears a “special burden of responsibility” to support the two-state solution as he announced the UK’s plan to recognise Palestinian statehood at the United Nations in New York.
He said: “The Netanyahu government’s rejection of a two-state solution is wrong; it’s wrong morally; and it’s wrong strategically.
“It harms the interests of the Israeli people, closing off the only path to a just and lasting peace, and that is why we are determined to protect the viability of a two-state solution.”
