Starmer set to announce UK recognition of Palestinian state

Sir Kerr Starmer is expected to announce the UK’s recognition of a Palestinian state in a statement on Sunday afternoon.

The Prime Minister said in July that the United Kingdom will change his position unless Israel will meet with several conditions, including approval of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the commitment of a long -term peace process that leads to the presence of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

The Israeli leadership has ruled out this since the beginning of the war after the Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people and 251 hostages were killed.

The Prime Minister’s move has sparked severe criticism from the Israeli government and the hostages of the hostages held in Gaza and some conservatives.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said previously that recognition of a Palestinian state was “equivalent to terrorism.”

The decision to recognize a Palestinian state is a major change in foreign policy in the United Kingdom, after successive governments said that recognition should come as part of the peace process and at the maximum impact.

However, the ministers argue that there was a moral responsibility to act in order to maintain the long -term peace.

The efforts made to secure the ceasefire in Gaza – not to mention a long -term solution to the Israeli -Palestinian conflict. Israel recently sparked international anger when it was An air strike on the Hamas negotiating team carried out In Qatar.

Government sources said that the situation on the ground has also worsened significantly in the past few weeks. They cited pictures showing hunger and violence in Gaza, which Mr. Kiir previously described as “unbearable.”

The last ground operation for Israel in Gaza City, The United Nations official described him as “catastrophic”, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee.

This is the latest Israeli attack in the war, which lasted for nearly two years, which witnessed many residents of the Palestinian territories, and destroyed its infrastructure, and at least 65,208 people were killed, according to Hamas’s Ministry of Health.

Earlier this week, a Israel concluded to Israel that Israel has committed genocide Against the Palestinians in Gaza, which Israel denounced “distorted and false.”

The ministers also highlighted the continuous expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which is considered illegal under international law, as a major factor in the decision to recognize the Palestinian state.

Justice Minister David Lami, who was the Foreign Minister when the recognition was proposed, was martyred in the controversial E1 settlement project – which warns critics against putting an end to hopes in a viable Palestinian state – in addition to violence from Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the commitment to recognize the United Kingdom when Sir Kerr visited earlier this month, as Downg Street said that both leaders had agreed that Hamas should not play a role in the future rule of Palestine.

Conservative leader Kimi Badnoush said she wanted to see a two -state solution in the Middle East.

But she wrote in the telegraph during the weekend: “It is clear, and the United States was clear in this, that recognition of a Palestinian state at this time and without the hostage will be a reward for terrorism.”

Meanwhile, in an open letter to Sir Kiir on Saturday, members of the family urged some of the hostages that the Prime Minister took not to take this step until 48 are still in Gaza, of whom 20 of them are still alive.

They wrote that the announcement of the next recognition was “greatly complicated to bring our loved ones home.” “Hamas has already celebrated the UK decision as a victory and retracted the ceasefire deal.”

Sources in the government said that the ministers will put the next steps for Hamas’s offer in the coming weeks.

During a government visit to the United Kingdom this week, US President Donald Trump also said he did not agree to recognition.

Sir Kerr had set a final date for the United Nations General Assembly meeting, What happens this week, in order for Israel to take “fundamental steps to end the horrific situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and adhere to long -term peace, and revive the possibility of a two -state solution.”

He said in July: “With this solution now under a threat, this is the moment you behave.”

A number of other countries, including Portugal, FranceCanada and Australia They also said that they would get to know a Palestinian state, while Spain, Ireland and Norway took the move last year.

Palestine is currently recognized by about 75 % of the 193 member states of the United Nations, but it has no internationally agreed borders, no capital or army – which makes recognition largely symbolic.

The two -state solution indicates the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza’s tape, with East Jerusalem as a capital. Israel is currently occupying both the West Bank and Gaza, which means that the Palestinian Authority is not in full control of its lands or people.

The awareness of the Palestinian state for a long time is an issue that many have defended within the Labor Party. The Prime Minister was under the escalating pressure to take a more striking position on Israel, especially from the deputies to the left of his party.

Shortly before delivering his speech in July, more than half of the Labor Party deputies signed a speech calling on the government to recognize immediately a Palestinian state.

However, critics asked why the government appeared to put conditions on Israel, but not Hamas.

Britain’s rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mervis, called on the government to stop its decision.

He said, “The intended recognition does not depend on the Palestinian or democratic government, not even on the basic commitment to a peaceful future.”

“Surprisingly, it is not conditional even with the release of 48 hostages remain in captivity.”

Government sources insisted on their demands for Hamas to release the hostages and agree to the ceasefire that has not changed.

But officials of the Foreign Ministry argued that the state was the right of the Palestinian people and could not depend on Hamas, which the government considers a terrorist organization.