The UK’s Prime Minister Said It Will Recognize Palestine By September If Israel Doesn’t Agree To A Ceasefire
Kier Starmer said the UK will make the move at the UN General Assembly in September unless Israel takes “substantive steps” to end its “appalling” war in Gaza.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer has announced that the UK will recognize Palestine as a state by September if Israel doesn’t agree to a ceasefire with Hamas..
In a speech on Tuesday, July 29, Starmer said the UK will make the move at the UN General Assembly in September unless Israel takes “substantive steps” to end its “appalling” war in Gaza.
“The Palestinian people have endured terrible suffering. Now, in Gaza because of a catastrophic failure of aid, we see starving babies, children too weak to stand. Images that will stay with us for a lifetime. The suffering must end," Starmer said.
Starmer said Israel must agree to a ceasefire, halt plans to annex parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, allow the UN to resume aid deliveries and commit to a long-term sustainable peace process that ends with a two-state solution.
Starmer again condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and said that the group has to agree to the ceasefire, release the hostages, disarm and accept it will play no role in governing Gazain the future.
He said that the UK has always said it will recognize a Palestinian state but wanted to do it at the “moment of maximum impact for the two-state solution.”
“With that solution now under threat, this is the moment to act,” he said, adding that the UK’s goal has always been “a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.”
He said that the UK will make an assessment in September on how far the parties had met the steps he outlined.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a post on X that the UK’s move is a "reward for Hamas", and Israel’s foreign ministry said it would harm efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.
The UK’s move follows French president Emmanuel Macron's announcement days earlier on July 24 that France will recognize the state of Palestine in the UN General Assembly in September, saying there is “no alternative”.
Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed more than 60,034 people, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023.
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