Britain will recognise state of Palestine 'unless Israel agrees to ceasefire'
Last year, Ireland officially recognised the state of Palestine with Norway and Spain following suit.
France have also said it would recognise the state of Palestine before the UN conference in September. The British government has said it will officially recognise Palestine as a state in September unless Israel end the 'appalling situation' in Gaza. Pic: PA
A statement from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK was 'determined to protect the viability of the two-state solution.'
It confirmed their intention to recognise the state of Palestine 'unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza and commits to a long-term sustainable peace.'
The statement said this would include allowing the UN to 'restart without delay' the supply of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza and agree on a ceasefire. Starmer previously said the recognition of a Palestinian state may jeopardise the UK's relationship with the United States. Pic:The British PM reiterated the UK's demands on Hamas — release the hostages; sign the ceasefire and accept they have no role in the government of Gaza.
Over 200 MPS have called on Foreign Secretary David Lammy to immediately recognise a Palestinian state. However, others have said it would undermine the UK's position as an impartial broker in the war.
Starmer previously said the recognition of a Palestinian state may jeopardise the UK's relationship with the United States.
Speaking in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Starmer explained that the timing of the announcement was due to the 'intolerable situation' in Gaza as well as concerns that the possibility of a two-state solution was 'reducing.'
Elsewhere, he said the British government's main aim was to change the situation on the ground so that aid can enter.
'This is intended to further that cause,' he told media, 'It's done now because I'm particularly concerned that the idea of a two-state solution is reducing and feels further away today than it has for many years.'
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Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Dozens killed while seeking aid at Gaza crossing as US envoy heads to Israel
At least 37 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday while waiting for food at a crossing in the Gaza Strip, according to a local hospital that received the casualties. The latest violence around aid distribution came as the US Middle East envoy was heading to Israel for talks. Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said the dead and wounded were among crowds massed at the Zikim Crossing, the main entry point for humanitarian aid to northern Gaza. It was not immediately clear who opened fire and there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which controls the crossing. Palestinians rush to collect humanitarian aid (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) Israeli strikes and gunfire had earlier killed at least 46 Palestinians overnight and into Wednesday, most of them among crowds seeking food, health officials said. Israel has come under mounting international pressure in recent days as its ongoing military offensive and blockade have led to the 'worst-case scenario of famine' in the coastal territory of some two million Palestinians, according to the leading international authority on hunger crises. US envoy Steve Witkoff, who has led the Trump administration's efforts to wind down the nearly 22-month war and release hostages taken in the Hamas attack that sparked the conflict, will arrive in Israel on Thursday for talks on the situation in Gaza. Of those killed in the earlier violence, more than 30 were seeking humanitarian aid, according to hospitals that received the bodies and treated dozens of wounded people. Another seven Palestinians, including a child, died of malnutrition-related causes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on any of the strikes. It says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, because the group's militants operate in densely populated areas. Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said that it received 12 people who were killed on Tuesday night when Israeli forces opened fire towards crowds awaiting aid trucks coming from the Zikim Crossing. Thirteen others were killed in strikes in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp, and the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, the hospital said. Palestinians inspect the site where an Israeli strike hit in Muwasi, Khan Younis (Mariam Dagga/AP) In the southern city of Khan Younis, Nasser Hospital said it received the bodies of 16 people who it says were killed Tuesday evening while waiting for aid trucks close to the newly built Morag corridor, which the Israeli military carved out between Khan Younis and the southernmost city of Rafah. The hospital received another body of a man killed in a strike on a tent in Khan Younis, it said. The Awda hospital in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp said that it received the bodies of four Palestinians. It said they were killed on Wednesday by Israeli fire close to an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the Netzarim corridor area, south of the Wadi Gaza. Under heavy international pressure, Israel announced a series of measures over the weekend to facilitate the entry of more international aid to Gaza, but aid workers say much more is needed. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the leading world authority on hunger crises, has stopped short of declaring famine in Gaza but said on Tuesday that the situation has dramatically worsened and warned of 'widespread death' without immediate action. COGAT, the Israeli military body that facilitates the entry of aid, said more than 220 trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday. That is far below the 500-600 trucks a day that UN agencies say are needed, and which entered during a six-week ceasefire earlier this year. The United Nations is still struggling to deliver the aid that does enter the strip, with most trucks unloaded by crowds in zones controlled by the Israeli military. The alternative aid system run by the Israeli-backed GHF has also been marred by violence. Palestinians scramble for aid packages dropped into the Mediterranean Sea (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid since May, most near sites run by GHF, according to witnesses, local health officials and the UN human rights office. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at people who approach its forces, and GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. International airdrops of aid have also resumed, but many of the parcels have landed in areas that Palestinians have been told to evacuate while others have plunged into the Mediterranean Sea, forcing people to swim out to retrieve drenched bags of flour. A total of 89 children have died of malnutrition since the war began in Gaza. The ministry said that 65 Palestinian adults have also died of malnutrition-related causes across Gaza since late June, when it started counting deaths among adults. Israel denies there is any starvation in Gaza, rejecting accounts to the contrary from witnesses, UN agencies and aid groups, and says the focus on hunger undermines ceasefire efforts. Hamas started the war with its attack on southern Israel on October 7 2023, in which militants killed around 1,200 people and abducted 251 others. They still hold 50 hostages, including around 20 believed to be alive. Most of the rest of the hostages were released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count does not distinguish between militants and civilians. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The UN and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Israeli forces kill at least 30 seeking aid in Gaza
At least 30 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces while waiting for food at a crossing in Gaza, the civil defence agency in the territory has said. "At least 30 martyrs were killed ... waiting for aid north of Gaza City," civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said, adding that more than 300 were wounded. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said his facility received 35 bodies of people killed in the shooting. The shooting reportedly happened near the coast, about three kilometres southwest of the Zikim crossing point for aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip from the north. The latest violence around aid distribution came as the US Middle East envoy was heading to Israel for talks. Israeli strikes and gunfire had earlier killed at least 46 Palestinians overnight and into today, most of them among crowds seeking food, health officials said. Israel has come under mounting international pressure in recent days as its ongoing military offensive and blockade have led to the "worst-case scenario of famine" in the coastal territory of some two million Palestinians, according to the leading international authority on hunger crises. Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said that it received 12 people who were killed last night when Israeli forces opened fire towards crowds awaiting aid trucks coming from the Zikim Crossing. Thirteen others were killed in strikes in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp, and the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, the hospital said. In the southern city of Khan Younis, Nasser Hospital said it received the bodies of 16 people who it says were killed yesterday evening while waiting for aid trucks close to the newly built Morag corridor, which the Israeli military carved out between Khan Younis and the southernmost city of Rafah. The hospital received another body of a man killed in a strike on a tent in Khan Younis, it said. The Awda hospital in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp said that it received the bodies of four Palestinians. It said they were killed today by Israeli fire close to an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the Netzarim corridor area, south of the Wadi Gaza. Seven more people die of malnutrition The continued killings come as another seven people, including one child, died of malnutrition-related causes, according to Gaza health officials. A total of 89 children have died of malnutrition since the current stage of the war began in Gaza. The ministry said 65 Palestinian adults have also died of malnutrition-related causes across Gaza since late June, when it started counting deaths among adults. Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya yesterday, hoping to secure a bag of flour or some aid, amid worsening humanitarian conditions. A global hunger monitor said yesterday that a famine scenario was unfolding in Gaza, with malnutrition soaring, children under five dying of hunger-related causes and humanitarian access severely restricted. The alert by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) raised the prospect that the man-made starvation crisis in Gaza could be formally classified as a famine, in the hope that this might raise the pressure on Israel to let in far more food. With the international furore over Gaza's ordeal growing, Israel announced steps over the weekend to ease aid access. But the UN World Food Programme said yesterday it was not getting the permissions it needed to deliver enough aid since Israel began humanitarian pauses in warfare on Sunday. Images of emaciated Palestinian children have shocked the world, with Israel's strongest ally, US President Donald Trump, declaring that many people were starving. He promised to set up new "food centres". Meanwhile, Executive Director at UNICEF Ireland Peter Power has said there is "not a shred of evidence" that aid in Gaza is being withheld by Hamas. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said that aid organisations "were not in the business of giving humanitarian assistance to terrorists". "I think that trope has been widely debunked at this stage; it's simply not true. Not a shred of evidence has been produced to back that up," he said. Mr Power said UN agencies and other trusted humanitarian organisations have been doing this for around 80 years now and are guided by the "highest principles of humanitarian delivery". 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"Each parachute can only drop one or two pallets, and a number of pallets would fill a truck. "We need 500 trucks a day, that's what the United Nations system was bringing in during the ceasefire." More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 2023. The current stage of the war began on 7 October 2023 when Hamas militants stormed across the border into Israeli communities. Israel says the militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 people into captivity in Gaza.
The Irish Sun
4 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Ireland joins countries calling for immediate Gaza ceasefire & two-state solution amid ‘urgent humanitarian aid' calls
IRELAND has joined 14 countries in calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the implementation of a two-state solution. Junior Minister Emer Higgins represented 3 Junior Minister Emer Higgins represented Ireland at an international conference in New York On the back of this meeting, 14 countries including Ireland agreed to send out a joint statement calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of This would see two democratic states in Israel and The countries that came together to back the statement include: Andorra, Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia and Spain. Tanaiste READ MORE IN IRISH NEWS The Foreign Affairs Minister said: 'The international community demands an immediate ceasefire and hostage release deal and urgent humanitarian aid for Gaza, and is ready to take concrete steps to implement the two-State solution. 'Ireland is doubling down on our commitment to achieve a just, lasting peace where Israelis and Palestinians live side by side in peace and security. We will continue to do all in our power to work for that peace.' On October 7, 2023, the Hamas Israel has since bombarded Gaza in a military campaign that has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths. Most read in The Irish Sun The Israeli Defence Forces have also blocked aid from getting into Gaza which has left people including children to starve to death. The joint statement from the 14 countries agreed at the New York conference makes a series of calls including for a ceasefire, release of hostages and the implementation of a two-state solution. DOUBLING DOWN The Foreign Ministers also expressed grave concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and called for the United Nations and its aid agencies to be allowed in to help people. The statement adds that the Ministers: 'Have already recognised, have expressed or express the willingness or the positive consideration of our countries to recognise the state of Palestine, as an essential step towards the two-state solution, and invite all countries that have not done so to join this call. 'Urge countries who have not done so yet to establish normal relations with Israel, and to express their willingness to enter into discussions on the regional integration of the state of Israel; 'Express our determination to work on an architecture for the 'day after' in Gaza which guarantees the reconstruction of Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and its exclusion from the Palestinian governance.' 3 The war in Gaza has been ongoing for nearly two years Credit: Getty Images - Getty 3 Tanaiste Simon Harris signed a letter on Ireland's behalf calling for a ceasefire and two-state solution Credit: PA Media, All Rights Reserved
