Over 220 MPs call for Britain to recognise Palestine as Starmer says this will be 'part of wider plan'

The Journal

4 days ago

SOME 221 MPS from across different political parties have joined forces to call on the UK Government to recognise a Palestinian state.
The MPs have urged the UK Government to take the step ahead of a United Nations conference in New York next week.
This follows
France's announcement yesterday evening it will formally recognise Palestine at a UN summit in September.
France is the biggest and most powerful European country to recognise Palestine.
More than 140 countries recognise a Palestinian state, including Ireland, doing so
last May
.
The MPs' letter, co-ordinated by Labour's Sarah Champion, said: 'We are expectant that the outcome of the conference will be the UK Government outlining when and how it will act on its long-standing commitment on a two-state solution; as well as how it will work with international partners to make this a reality.'
Parliamentarians from Labour, the Conservatives, Lib Dems, SNP, Greens, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and independents are among those who signed the letter.
Champion acknowledged 'recognition alone will not end the suffering in Gaza or the rapid expansion of settlements and settler violence in the West Bank'.
But she said it would be an important step on the path towards a two-state solution to end the war.
The Labour MP added: 'Recognition would send a powerful symbolic message that we support the rights of the Palestinian people, that they are not alone and they need to maintain hope that there is a route that leads to lasting peace and security for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people.'
Ministers have faced growing calls to recognise a Palestinian state immediately amid mounting global anger over the starving population in Gaza.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said this evening that such a move needed to be part of the 'pathway' to peace in the Middle East, which he and allies are working towards.
'That pathway will set out the concrete steps needed to turn the ceasefire so desperately needed, into a lasting peace,' Starmer said.
He added: 'Recognition of a Palestinian state has to be one of those steps. I am unequivocal about that.
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'But it must be part of a wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis.'
He also said that the 'appalling scenes in Gaza are unrelenting' and added: 'The continued captivity of hostages, the starvation and denial of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people, the increasing violence from extremist settler groups, and Israel's disproportionate military escalation in Gaza are all indefensible.
In a statement released today alongside the leaders of France and Germany, Starmer urged 'all parties to bring an end to the conflict by reaching an immediate ceasefire'.
Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also called for Israel to stop restricting the flow of aid into Gaza.
Charities operating in Gaza have said Israel's blockade and ongoing military offensive are pushing people there towards starvation, warning that they are seeing their own workers and Palestinians 'waste away'.
Israel says it allows enough aid into the territory and faults delivery efforts by UN agencies, which say they are hindered by Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of security.
As he left for Scotland today, US President Donald Trump suggested that Macron's announcement that France would recognise Palestinian statehood was unimportant.
'What he says doesn't matter', Trump told reporters at the White House.
Starmer will meet the US president during his five-day private trip to Scotland.
US-led peace talks in Qatar were cut short yesterday, with Washington's special envoy Steve Witkoff accusing Hamas of a 'lack of desire to reach a ceasefire'.
The deal under discussion is expected to include a 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Aid supplies would be ramped up and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting truce.
Hamas-led militants based in Gaza abducted 251 people in the 7 October attack in 2023 that triggered the war and killed about 1,200 people.
Fewer than half of the 50 hostages still in Gaza are believed to be alive.
Israel's war in Gaza has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.