Starmer under pressure from cabinet to recognise Palestinian statehood
The prime minister is understood to have been urged by a number of senior ministers in different cabinet meetings over recent months that the UK should take a leading role in issuing recognition.
The UK plans to formally acknowledge Palestine as part of a peace process, but only in conjunction with other western countries and 'at the point of maximum impact' – without saying what that would be.
However, there has been a growing sense of desperation and horror inside the Labour cabinet over Israel's killing of starving Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and its attacks on humanitarian agencies, in recent weeks.
'We say that recognising Palestinian statehood is a really important symbol that you can only do once. But if not now, then when?' one cabinet minister said.
Earlier this month, nearly 60 Labour MPs demanded the UK immediately recognises Palestine as a state, after Israel's defence minister announced plans to force all residents of Gaza into a camp on the ruins of Rafah.
Israel is facing intensifying international condemnation for its actions in Gaza, with the UN secretary general, António Guterres, warning that the 'last lifelines keeping people alive [in the strip] are collapsing'.
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, told British parliamentarians in a visit this month that a two-state solution was 'the only way' to build peace and stability in the region. However, diplomats say he has faced resistance from allies such as Britain and Canada over his push.
France and Saudi Arabia are co-chairing a rescheduled international conference at the UN in New York later this month to discuss postwar plans for Gaza and preparations for formally acknowledging Palestine.
The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, who said he felt 'appalled, sickened' by the scenes of starving Palestinians being shot as they sought food, said the UK would 'play its part' in reaching a two-state solution for the Middle East, including working with the French.
'We said we wanted that to be part of a process. But we have had no process. What we have had is mayhem and conflict. There has been no process to attach that recognition to,' he told the BBC on Tuesday.
'Why do we say that? It's because we don't just want to recognise symbolically, we want to recognise as a way of getting to the two states that sadly many are trying to thwart at this point in time.
'But there is a live debate and discussion and let me restate again my belief in two states, and two states in which Palestinians have their dignity and freedom and Israel has its security for its people. We will do all we can to achieve that in time.'
In an unusual Commons intervention on Gaza, the health secretary, Wes Streeting, on Tuesday called for recognition of the state of Palestine 'while there's still a state of Palestine left to recognise'.
He criticised the 'intolerable' attack by Israel on the World Health Organization's staff residence and main warehouse in Deir al-Balah on Monday, which had compromised its operations in Gaza.
'I deplore Israel's attacks on healthcare workers as well as other innocent civilians trying to access healthcare or vital aid. These actions go well beyond legitimate self-defence and undermine the prospects for peace,' he told MPs.
'I sincerely hope that the international community can come together, as the foreign secretary has been driving towards, to make sure that we see an end of this war but also that we recognise the state of Palestine while there is a state of Palestine left to recognise.'
Streeting is understood to be among the cabinet ministers who have pushed for recognition of Palestine in recent cabinet meetings. The justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, and the Northern Ireland secretary, Hilary Benn, are also understood to have brought up the issue.
At the Commons liaison committee on Monday, the prime minister said the situation in Gaza was 'intolerable' as he repeated the UK's commitment to recognising a Palestinian state 'at a time most conducive to the prospects of peace' in the region.
Israel has been fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian militant group's deadly attack on Israel in October 2023. A US-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire is being discussed at talks in Doha.
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