Demand return of hostages before recognising Palestine, Labour MP tells Starmer
Mike Tapp, the vice-chairman of the Labour Friends of Israel, has warned that a 'unilateral recognition' of a Palestinian state risks 'handing Hamas a PR victory'.
The Prime Minister announced last week that the UK would recognise a Palestinian state at a meeting of the UN General Assembly in September unless Israel met certain conditions.
Downing Street has refused to say whether Hamas could still be in power in the region, or whether or not the hostages had to be released, before a state would be recognised.
Mr Tapp, the MP for Dover and Deal, is the first Labour MP to publicly call for the release of hostages to be a precondition for the recognition of Palestine.
Writing for Jewish News, he said: 'The release of the hostages must be among the conditions for any UK recognition.'
He added: 'For a two-state solution to achieve the ends we all desire – self-determination for the Palestinian people and security for the Israeli people – it is crucial that Britain also conditions recognition on Hamas committing to disarmament and having no further role in the governance of a Palestinian state .
'This is the common-sense view of the British people.'
Conditions set out by the Prime Minister last week for Israel included agreeing to a ceasefire and allowing the United Nations to restart the supply of aid.
But in his speech outlining his plan, he did not outline any specific demands for the Palestinian Authority, nor Hamas, as part of the recognition process.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said on Monday: 'We've been very clear that Hamas must release all hostages unconditionally and immediately, and the Prime Minister and the Government have said that.'
Hostage families and a British hostage released earlier this year criticised the Prime Minister's announcement.
Emily Damari, a dual British-Israeli citizen who survived 471 days in Hamas captivity, said: 'This is not diplomacy – it is a moral failure. Shame on you, Prime Minister.'
'Handing Hamas a PR victory'
Last week, Hamas released a video of an emaciated Israeli hostage digging his own grave inside a small tunnel in Gaza.
Mr Tapp wrote on Tuesday: 'Unilateral recognition in September risks handing Hamas a PR victory and, by playing the card before the conditions for lasting peace are met, diminishing Britain's relevance in any future peace process.
'It remains a mirage: an easy, symbolic act which suggests there is some way to short circuit the hard graft of direct negotiations – wrestling with tough compromises and minute details – which ultimately remains the only credible, serious path to a two-state solution.'
Last week, a senior Hamas official welcomed the Prime Minister's promise to recognise Palestine, saying that 'victory and liberation are closer than we expected'.
Basem Naim, a former minister in the terror group's government of Gaza, said: 'International support for Palestinian self-determination shows we are moving in the right direction.'
Sir Keir had been under increasing pressure from his backbenchers to recognise a state of Palestine, as images of severe malnutrition of adults and children kept emerging from Gaza.
In January, 2,846 children were diagnosed with malnutrition – a figure that has jumped month on month, to 5,870 in June, according to Unicef.
More than 100 Labour MPs had demanded that the Prime Minister recognise Palestine, in a letter coordinated by backbencher Sarah Champion.
But Sir Keir's announcement was not universally welcomed by those calling for recognition either. Ms Champion said: 'I'm troubled our recognition appears conditional on Israel's actions.'
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