Palestinians are tentatively welcoming a “huge step” forward for peace after Sir Keir Starmer announced the UK’s formal recognition of the state of Palestine on Sunday – but say the government needs to go further.
A diplomatic row between Israel and the UK is set to deepen after the prime minister announced the historic step on Sunday, to “revive the hope of peace and a two-state solution”.
As the Israeli foreign ministry condemned the move, saying it rewards Hamas, and Washington makes known its disapproval, Palestinians are welcoming the historic step.
But some say it has come far later than it should have, following decades of repressive occupation in the Palestinian territories and nearly two years of an Israeli military campaign in Gaza, which a UN inquiry has now denounced as genocide.
Here, The Independent speaks to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza about a historic day for both Britain and the Palestinian people.
‘A huge, historic step’
After years of calling for their own recognition in the eyes of countries around the world, Palestinians are unequivocal about the importance of their statehood being recognised by the UK.
Australia and Canada also took the historic step today, with France and Portugal among the other countries also set to do so this month.
Dr Ahmed al-Farra is the head of paediatrics at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, one of the few remaining hospitals that still function in the strip.
He hailed the “crucial step forward” which he said shows “drastic changes in the British understanding of the Palestinian cause”.
But it must be noted, he added, that the decision has come after the British government has continued to export weapons to Israel that he says have been used to “kill Gazans”.
The move must signal an “increase in British support for the Palestinian cause”, Dr Farra said, before he issued a personal invite for Sir Keir to visit Nasser hospital to “see how horrible the medical situation is”.
Mohammad Hesham Huraini, a 22-year-old from Masafer Yatta in Israeli-controlled Area C of the West Bank, where settler attacks and unlawful home demolitions are near-daily occurrences, said it is a “very important step, and it’s a really huge one”.
“Every Palestinian is happy to see it, but at the same time, we actually need more than just recognising Palestine. We have the right to be recognised as humans in general. We want to stop the genocide in Gaza and to end the occupation,” he added.
Samed Wajjeh is a 32-year-old from Khan Younis, who now lives in a tent outside the Nasser Medical Complex.
He described recognition as a “historic step that reflects long-standing moral and political pressure”.
But the father-of-two, whose wife and children have been evacuated to the Netherlands, said the move alone was “not enough” and must be accompanied by increased sanctions and pressure on Israel.
‘If it came sooner, it could have saved lives’
Recognising the State of Palestine has been on the cards for the UK for years. In 2014, the House of Commons voted in favour of recognising Palestinian statehood, but David Cameron’s Conservative government did not go ahead.
Since the war began, Dr Farra said, Palestinians have watched the “blind support of the UK government to Israel”, which was “silent about the crime against us in Gaza”.
Israeli bombardment has killed more than 65,000 people in Gaza and displaced around 90 per cent of the population, the health ministry says, since the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023 killed nearly 1,200 in Israel and saw 251 taken hostage.
“We expected the UK government to make strict decisions against the Netanyahu government, and much more pressure on the Israeli occupation to put an end to the most criminal war in humanity,” Dr Farra said.
“We wanted the UK government to act in the same way it did with Ukraine. Why not consider Gaza the same as Ukraine?”
For Mr Wajjeh, the delay “does not change the importance” of Sir Keir’s decision.
“But if it had been made sooner,” he added, “it would have had a greater impact and perhaps saved lives or caused fewer damage and losses”.
Mr Hureini said that it is “really an amazing step” from the UK but that “it should be taken since a very, very long time”.
He added: “It is late. After over 60,000 martyrs [Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks] in Gaza and after the years we faced under the occupation, it is late.
“[During] this genocide and these massacres and these crimes, the UK knew very well what is really happening here, in the state that they will recognise today.
“But there is a phrase, to come late is better than to not come at all,” he added.
The UK must go further, Palestinians say
For Dr Farra, Mr Hureini and Mr Wajjeh, recognition of the state of Palestine is only an effective move if the British government backs it up by continuing to toughen its stance against Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet.
“What matters is [whether] this recognition will lead to an immediate ending of this war and later the ending of the occupation. The recognition of a Palestinian state must be accompanied by physical results on the ground,” said Dr Farra.
Mr Hureini and Dr Farra both said the UK government needs to begin seeing Palestinians as “humans” not just as “ink on paper” and “numbers”.
“Put sanctions against this government, against the leader of this fascist government,” said Mr Hureini. “Stop this genocide, and this massacre, and the killing of my people that is happening in Gaza and the West Bank.”
Mr Wajjeh said the political and legal pressure on Israel to stop the war must be followed by more pressure for them to allow aid into Gaza.
Afterwards, he said, “Israel must be held accountable for committing war crimes and using internationally prohibited weapons”.
