Starmer says U.K. will recognize Palestinian state if Israel hasn’t agreed to ceasefire by September

The United Kingdom will recognize Palestine as a state in September unless Israel takes “substantive steps” to end the “appalling situation in Gaza,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Tuesday.

Addressing reporters at Downing Street, the prime minister said the U.K. will recognize Palestine as a state at the United Nations General Assembly in September unless Israel takes a number of steps — including the establishment of a ceasefire in Gaza, a commitment to halting the annexation of territory in the West Bank, and a pledge to work toward a peace process involving a two-state solution.

“Meanwhile, our message to the terrorists of Hamas is unchanged and unequivocal. They must immediately release all of the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza,” Starmer added.

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer makes an address following an emergency cabinet meeting on Gaza at 10 Downing Street in London on July 29, 2025. TOBY MELVILLE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Speaking at the U.N. headquarters in New York moments after Starmer had finished speaking, British Foreign Minister David Lammy said the U.K. government had taken this decision as the “two-state solution is in peril.”

“Let me be clear – the Netanyahu government’s rejection of a two-state solution is wrong. It’s wrong morally and it’s wrong strategically. It harms the interest of the Israeli people, closing off the only path to a just and lasting peace, and that is why we are determined to protect the viability of a two-state solution,” Lammy said.

In a statement on X, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the U.K.’s decision, writing that “Starmer rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism & punishes its victims.”

“A jihadist state on Israel’s border TODAY will threaten Britain TOMORROW. Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you too. It will not happen,” Netanyahu said.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the decision by the U.K. and called it a “reward for Hamas” that “harms efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of hostages.”

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday, President Trump said he did not discuss the decision with Starmer during their bilateral meeting in Scotland a day before the announcement.

Seated alongside Starmer on Monday, Mr. Trump addressed the situation in Gaza, saying the U.S. will be providing food to the people of Gaza and working to eliminate barriers to humanitarian aid.

“Some of those kids are, that’s real starvation stuff,” Mr. Trump said Monday. “I see it. And you can’t fake that. So we’re going to be even more involved.

He added: “I told Israel maybe they have to do it a different way.”

A Downing Street spokeswoman said in a statement that Starmer spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone regarding the announcement on Tuesday.

“He [Starmer] said that the situation in Gaza was intolerable and that the need for humanitarian access is now more pressing than ever before. He urged the Prime Minister to take immediate action to lift all restrictions on aid access and get those suffering in Gaza the food they need,” the spokeswoman said.

The spokeswoman for Starmer’s office said the prime minister had also spoken over the phone with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and King Abdullah II of Jordan about the U.K.’s plan to recognize Palestinian statehood.

Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognize Palestine as a state and would formalize that decision at the U.N. General Assembly in September.

“Consistent with its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognize the State of Palestine,” Macron said at the time. “The urgent priority today is to end the war in Gaza and to bring relief to the civilian population.”

Netanyahu said Israel “strongly” condemned that decision and said that it “rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became.”

“A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel — not to live in peace beside it. Let’s be clear: the Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel; they seek a state instead of Israel,” the Israeli leader said in a post on X.

That announcement came as pressure has mounted on Israel to allow more aid into Gaza as images of starving Palestinian children have garnered widespread global attention over the past week. The international pressure led Israel over the weekend to announce measures, including daily humanitarian pauses in fighting in parts of Gaza and airdrops.

France’s top diplomat, Jean-Noël Barrot, hailed the U.K. prime minister’s announcement Tuesday in a social media post.

“Together, through this pivotal decision and our combined efforts, we break the endless cycle of violence and reopen the prospect of peace in the region,” Barrot said.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists 149 countries that currently recognise the state of Palestine. That number would rise to 151 should France and the U.K. formalize recognition of Palestine as a state in September.

At least 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Israel-Hamas conflict began, according to the most recent figures released by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

A Palestinian boy reacts as he waits to receive food from a charity kitchen in Gaza City on Monday. Khamis Al-Rifi/Reuters

An increasing number of Palestinians in Gaza are starving to death as tons of food, clean water and medical supplies sit just outside the territory’s borders, and aid agencies have warned that Gaza is as close to famine as it’s ever been.

For months, the United Nations has said that Palestinians are facing critical levels of acute food insecurity, and on Tuesday the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) initiative said that “the worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding.”

Of 74 malnutrition-related deaths in 2025, 63 occurred in July – including 24 children under 5, a child over 5, and 38 adults, the World Health Organization (WHO) said this week, noting that the situation was “entirely preventable,” while pointing to Israel’s blockade on aid.

“I don’t know what you would call it other than mass starvation, and it’s man-made, and that’s very clear,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied that Palestinians in Gaza face starvation.

Since Sunday, 14 people have starved to death in Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The following criteria need to be met for a famine to be determined, according to the IPC:

At least 1 in 5 households face an extreme food shortage

Roughly 1 in 3 or a higher proportion of children are acutely malnourished

At least 2 in every 10,000 people are dying daily (or at least 4 in every 10,000 children under 5 are dying daily) because of outright starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and disease.

Two of those thresholds have been reached in Gaza already, the IPC said Tuesday, adding that a new analysis is underway. The IPC does not declare a famine but provides an analysis to allow governments and others to do so.

“Many people will have died by the time a famine is declared,” it added.

The IPC has previously classified four places as being in famine: Somalia in 2011, South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, and Sudan in 2024.

The U.K. will recognize a Palestinian state if Israel doesn’t agree to a Gaza ceasefire

toggle caption Toby Melville/Pool Reuters/AP

The United Kingdom will recognize a Palestinian state by September unless Israel commits to peace in the Gaza Strip, stopping the annexation of the West Bank and other measures, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Tuesday.

This follows an announcement last week by French President Emmanuel Macron that France plans to recognize a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Europe France will recognize a Palestinian state France recognizes Palestinian state Listen · 3:15 3:15

Starmer said he has long supported negotiations to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel — known as a two-state solution — to help resolve Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But he said that solution is now under threat.

“So today, as part of this process towards peace, I can confirm the U.K. will recognize the state of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution,” Starmer said in an address on Tuesday.

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Starmer also called on Hamas — the militant and political organization that runs Gaza — to release the hostages it seized in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which prompted a full-scale Israeli military invasion of Gaza. He said Hamas should “sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza.”

The announcement came as international alarm has grown over starvation and deaths in the Gaza Strip, after nearly 22 months of war between Israel and Hamas in the territory. A United Nations-backed food security group on Tuesday warned that the “worst-case scenario of famine” is unfolding, as the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the war topped 60,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The Israeli government, which opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, criticized Britain’s move. “The shift in the British government’s position at this time, following the French move and internal political pressures, constitutes a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of hostages,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Starmer won applause from members of his Labour Party. But some members of the opposition Conservative Party said the policy put conditions on Israel but not on Hamas. BBC international editor Jeremy Bowen said it was a “big change in British foreign policy.”

More than 140 countries, including several in Europe, already recognize Palestinian statehood. The U.K. and France — members of the Group of Seven leading economies — would be the biggest Western powers to do so.

The U.K. announcement follows a meeting Monday between Starmer and President Trump in Scotland, where the two discussed the war in Gaza and mass starvation in the territory as top issues.

When asked whether Starmer should join France in recognizing a Palestinian state, Trump told reporters: “I’m not going to take a position. I don’t mind him [Starmer] taking a position. I’m looking for getting people fed right now.”

After French President Macron announced his government would recognize Palestinian statehood, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on social media: “This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda.” In a statement, the State Department said moves like France’s were “counterproductive gestures” that undercut U.S. diplomatic efforts on the war in Gaza.

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The UK will recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire and a two-state solution in Gaza, Sir Keir Starmer has vowed.

The prime minister said Benjamin Netanyahu’s government must end its starvation tactics and allow the supply of aid into the embattled enclave after a UN-backed food security body said the “worst-case scenario of famine” was playing out in the territory.

The announcement on Tuesday came after an emergency virtual cabinet meeting where Sir Keir laid out his plan for peace in the Middle East, agreed over the weekend with French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Sir Keir has come under mounting pressure from his own party to recognise a Palestinian state, which has only grown since Mr Macron announced France’s intention to do so by September.

In addition, Britain’s foreign secretary David Lammy is attending a United Nations conference in New York on Tuesday to urge support for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.

open image in gallery With warnings that people in Gaza are facing starvation, growing numbers of Labour MPs want Keir Starmer to recognise a Palestinian state to put pressure on Israel ( Alamy/PA )

Here, The Independent asks experts about what the UK recognising Palestinian statehood would mean in practice.

What would UK recognition of Palestine as a state mean?

Dr Julie Norman, an associate professor at UCL specialising in Middle Eastern politics, said it looks likely that the UK will recognise Palestine as a state, which would mean voting for this at the United Nations – but it would be unlikely the UN would be able to recognise Palestinian statehood due to the probability of the United States blocking the move.

However, she said countries such as the UK and France voting for recognition at the UN would be a “significant” move.

And she said the UK officially recognising Palestinian statehood would still be of “value”, even if the reality is that not much would change on the ground, with Israel still “fully rejecting” the prospect of recognition.

open image in gallery Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas ( AP )

Speaking of British recognition, Dr Norman said: “It would be a strong moral commitment and stance to Palestine at a moment when it’s never been more fraught in Gaza and the West Bank.

“In the short term, it’s a diplomatic stance, and it makes room for policy changes.

“And, if and when parties come back to discuss the long-term conflict, it would put Palestine in a better position. So it wouldn’t change things immediately, but I would say it still has value.”

She added that the move might initially see more change in London than in Ramallah, a city in the central West Bank, which serves as the administrative capital of Palestine – with, for example, the opening of an embassy in the UK capital. This would not mean recognition of Hamas.

open image in gallery A Palestinian woman walks at the site of houses destroyed during an Israeli raid in the western part of Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, on Tuesday ( Reuters )

What is the two-state solution?

The idea of dividing the Holy Land goes back decades.

When the British mandate over Palestine ended, the UN partition plan in 1947 envisioned dividing the territory into Jewish and Arab states. Upon Israel’s declaration of independence the following year, war erupted with its Arab neighbours and the plan was never implemented. Over half of the Palestinian population fled or were forced to flee. Under a 1949 armistice, Jordan held control over the West Bank and east Jerusalem and Egypt over Gaza.

Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 six-day war. The Palestinians seek these lands for a future independent state, and the idea of a two-state solution based on Israel’s pre-1967 boundaries has been the basis of peace talks dating back to the 1990s.

The two-state solution has wide international support, but there is disagreement about how it would be implemented.

Israel’s creation and expansion of settlements in the Occupied West Bank, which are illegal under international law, are seen as a major obstacle to this.

open image in gallery Starvation in the war-torn strip has reached a critical point ( Reuters )

What would recognition of Palestine as a state mean for refugees?

Sir Vincent Fean, a former British consul general to Jerusalem and now a trustee of the charity Britain Palestine Project, explained that recognition of Palestine as a state would mean that if Palestinian passports were issued, they would subsequently be recognised by the UK as passports of a state.

However, Sir Vincent said Palestinian statehood would not affect the UK’s refugee system.

“Does it impact the tally of refugees coming to the UK? No,” he said. This is because he expects the visa regime the UK currently has with Palestine – where travel is only allowed between the two after a successful visa application – would continue.

He added that Palestinian statehood “wouldn’t particularly change the right of return for Palestinians to their homeland”. He said this was a “long-standing right”, although it would require negotiation with Israel.

open image in gallery Keir Starmer’s decision came after he convened a meeting of his cabinet on Tuesday to discuss the situation in the Middle East ( PA Wire )

What does UK recognition of Palestinian statehood mean for how the two would communicate?

Sir Vincent said this was a “very important point” to clarify, as he highlighted the distinction between recognising the entity of Palestine and recognising factions of government.

He said: “It’s important to say the British government doesn’t recognise governments, it recognises states.

“So it isn’t actually recognising President [Mahmoud] Abbas as head of the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organisation] and head of the Palestinian Authority.

“In practice, he would be the interlocutor in Ramallah, because there isn’t an alternative.”

He stressed, however, that Britain has already proscribed Hamas as a terrorist group and that this would not change.

Dr Norman added that the Palestinian Authority is currently the main governing entity for Palestinians in the West Bank, which the UK has recognised and had lines of communication with for a long time. If Britain were to recognise Palestinian statehood, this would not change and would continue.

Sir Vincent also said that the prospect of Hamas running Palestine next is “practically zero” because the militants’ chances of winning an election are “remote”.

He said the plan for the future governance of Gaza involving the Palestinian Authority will be a focus of the UN meeting being held this week.

open image in gallery Israeli soldiers work on their tanks in a staging area on the border with Gaza Strip in southern Israel on Tuesday ( AP )

What countries have recognised Palestinian statehood?

France has become the latest country to announce it will recognise Palestinian statehood, drawing angry rebukes from Israel and the United States and opening the door for other major nations to perhaps follow suit.

Mr Macron last week published a letter sent to Mr Abbas confirming France’s intention to press ahead with recognition and work to convince other partners to do the same. He said he would make a formal announcement at the United Nations General Assembly next month.

France is now the first major Western power to shift its diplomatic stance on a Palestinian state, after Spain, Ireland, and Norway officially recognised it last year.

The three countries made the declaration and agreed its borders would be demarcated as they were before the 1967 war, when Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

However, they also recognised that those borders may change if a final settlement is reached over the territory, and that their decisions did not diminish their belief in Israel’s fundamental right to exist in peace and security.

About 144 of the 193 UN member states recognise Palestine as a state, including most of the global South as well as Russia, China and India. But only a handful of the 27 European Union members do so, mostly former communist countries as well as Sweden and Cyprus.

The UN General Assembly approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine in November 2012 by upgrading its observer status at the world body to “non-member state” from “entity”.

open image in gallery The issue came to the fore in the UK after Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France would recognise Palestine as a state ( AP )

What implications would UK recognition of Palestinian statehood have internationally?

Dr Norman said: “This is where it can be important”.

Two major global powers, such as the UK and France, making the move would be “significant” and would pave the way for conversations on the issue happening elsewhere, such as in Canada, she said.

“It starts isolating the US as the main major power backing Israel to the exclusion of Palestine,” she said. “It makes them the exception and shows the rest of the world somewhat united in Palestinian self-determination, which has been the UK’s policy for a while now. If we’re serious about that, then we need to be serious about that.

“We don’t have as much military weight as the US, but we do still have diplomatic weight, and we should use what we can.

“It would show Europe is committed to a two-state solution, and wouldn’t let that disappear or sit in the back seat.”

The United Kingdom will formally recognize a Palestinian state unless Israel implements a ceasefire and addresses the “intolerable” situation on the ground in Gaza, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced. Starmer said the U.K. will make the declaration at the United Nations General Assembly in September, unless Israel takes “substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire, and commit to a sustainable, long-term peace that revives the prospect of a two-state solution.”

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The move follows a similar announcement from French President Emmanuel Macron that France will recognize Palestine in September, and comes amid growing international outrage over Israel’s actions in Gaza—fueled by images of emaciated children and a rising hunger-related death toll. Starmer said that Israel must also allow the United Nations to resume aid deliveries into Gaza and provide assurances that no annexations will take place in the West Bank. “Our message to the terrorists of Hamas is unchanged and unequivocal. They must immediately release all of the hostages, sign up to a cease-fire, disarm, and accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza,” Starmer told reporters. “But also we need alongside that to ensure that we get aid in at volume and in speed into Gaza because the situation is simply intolerable,” he said. Starmer expressed concern that the goal of a two-state solution is slipping further out of reach. “The very idea of a two state solution is reducing and feels further away today than it has felt for many, many years,” he said.

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A U.N.-backed international food security body warned earlier on Tuesday that Gaza is experiencing a “worst-case famine scenario” saying that intensifying conflict and displacement are leading to “widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease.” Last week, the Israeli government also passed a non-binding motion for the annexation of the West Bank before the Knesset began a three-month recess. Starmer follows Macron in move toward recognition On July 25, Macron announced that he would be officially recognising the State of Palestine at the U.N. General Assembly in September – a move that was met with criticism from Israel and the United States. “It is essential to build the State of Palestine, ensure its viability, and enable it, by accepting its demilitarization and fully recognizing Israel, to contribute to the security of all in the Middle East. There is no alternative,” Macron said last week.

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Last year Spain, Norway and Ireland also recognized Palestine. “Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu does not have a project of peace for Palestine, even if the fight against the terrorist group Hamas is legitimate,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in May 2024. Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Simon Harris, who announced the decision in a press conference, likened Palestinians’ bid for self-determination to the Irish people’s history seeking international recognition of their independence in 1919. “Today, we use the same language to support the recognition of Palestine as a state,” said Harris. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz responded to the decisions, calling them “distorted” and that they send “a message to the Palestinians and the world: Terrorism pays.” Domestic pressure spurs Starmer His statement comes amid growing domestic pressure over the U.K.’s stance on the conflict. More than 230 MPs, including a third of his cabinet, have urged him to act.

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The U.K. has increased its pressure on Israel in recent weeks regarding its conduct in both Gaza and the West Bank. Starmer signed a joint statement alongside Canada and France on May 19 in which the three countries condemned Israel’s plans to expand military operations in Gaza. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Starmer, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and French President Emmanuel Macron were “Emboldening Hamas,” with their stance. In June, the U.K, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway imposed sanctions against far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for “Inciting extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights.” Most recently, more than 30 countries including the U.K. signed a joint statement calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza, saying: “The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths. The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity.”

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The statement also reiterated calls for Hamas to release the remaining hostages still held in captivity within Gaza.