THE Prime Minister has confirmed the UK will recognise a Palestinian state after promising sanctions against terrorist group Hamas.
Sir Keir Starmer said the historic move was intended “to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis”.
XThe move comes ahead of the UN General Assembly this week[/caption]
Starmer will promise new actions against terror group Hamas to try and stave off criticismGetty
ReutersThe move was announced today[/caption]
The move comes ahead of the UN General Assembly this week, with other nations, including Australia and Canada, making similar moves.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the move as “absurd” and “simply a reward for terrorism”.
In response, Sir Keir said Hamas was a “brutal terror organisation” and confirmed plans to ratchet up sanctions on the group.
“Our call for a genuine two-state solution is the exact opposite of their hateful vision,” he said.
In July, Starmer vowed to recognise the Palestinian state unless Israel agreed to a ceasefire.
And posting a video on X this afternoon, the embattled PM said the “moment has now arrived” to recognise Palestine.
He said: “To revive the hope of peace and a two-state solution, I state clear as Prime Minister of this great country that the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine.
“We recognised the State of Israel more than 75 years ago as a homeland for the Jewish people.
“Today we join over 150 countries who recognise a Palestinian state also.
“A pledge to the Palestinian and Israeli people that there can be a better future.”
Tory leader Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said recognition of a Palestinian state was an “absolutely disastrous” move.
She said: “We will all rue the day this decision was made. Rewarding terrorism with no conditions whatsoever put in place for Hamas.
“It leaves hostages languishing in Gaza and does nothing to stop the suffering of innocent people caught in this war.
“It is because Labour cannot fix the big problems in our society that they focus on discredited student union campaigns to appease the hard left.”
It comes as The Sun on Sunday exposes a dossier which reveals Hamas politicians who want to lead a new Palestinian state have praised suicide bombers and peddled race hate.
Khaled Mashal, acting chair of the Hamas Political Bureau, was named a “specially designated global terrorist” in the US in 2003 following a suicide bombing in Israel that killed 20.
He has described the Holocaust as “exaggerated” and in 2024 called for a resumption of suicide bombings.
Another leading Hamas figure, Mahmourd al-Zahar, is designated as a terrorist by countries including the UK, US, Canada and Australia.
In 2009 he said Israel “legitimised killing of its children”.
A third, Osama Hamdan, vowed to “wipe Israel off” the planet.
Michael Rubin, director of Labour Friends of Israel, said: “These men cannot play any role in the government of a future of a Palestinian state.”
Starmer continued: “I know the strength of feeling that this conflict provokes.
“We have seen it on our streets, in our schools, in conversations we’ve had with friends and family. It has created division.
“Some have used it to stoke hatred and fear, but that solves nothing.
“Not only must we reject hate, we must redouble our efforts to combat hatred in all its forms.
“We must channel our efforts, united together in hope, behind the peaceful future that we want to see…
“…the release of the hostages, an end to the violence, an end to the suffering and a shift back towards a two-state solution as the best hope for peace and security for all sides.”
Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump suggested recognising the Palestinian state would risk “rewarding Hamas”.
The US President claimed the PM did not even raise the controversial move when they met in Scotland in July.
Speaking aboard Air Force One as he flew back to the US from Scotland, Mr Trump said: “We never did discuss it.”
He added: “You’re rewarding Hamas if you do that. I don’t think they should be rewarded.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the move as ‘absurd’
It comes after the UN confirmed a man-made famine in Gaza
In July, Starmer vowed to recognise the Palestinian state unless Israel agreed to a ceasefire
And a Reform UK spokesman added: “Recognising Palestine as a state does little more than reward Hamas for their actions on October 7.
“This decision is being made at the wrong time and is a knee jerk reaction by Keir Starmer to appease the hard left forces inside and outside of his party.”
Israeli PM Netanyahu previously slammed the British Prime Minister’s move, saying it “rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism” and “punishes its victims”.
“A jihadist state on Israel’s border today will threaten Britain tomorrow,” Netanyahu warned in a post on X.
“Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you too. It will not happen.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry also said recognition “constitutes a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza”.
Sir Keir previously told ministers the situation was “increasingly intolerable”, with horrifying scenes of starving children and hospitals.
And in a televised address, he declared: “I have always said that we will recognise a Palestinian state…
“… as a contribution to a proper peace process 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 the UK would recognise Palestine ahead of September’s UN General Assembly unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire.
He also called on Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, halt West Bank annexation plans, and commit to serious peace talks.
The PM also said the UK would assess progress before the summit but warned no one side would be allowed to block the decision.
On Hamas, Sir Keir insisted the terror group must be nowhere near Gaza’s future.
He said that it must “immediately release all of the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire and disarm”.
The announcement follows weeks of intense pressure from across Labour, with several top ministers and dozens of backbenchers pushing for action.
Earlier this week, Israel said “Gaza is burning” after another night of strikes blitzed the region.
The IDF warned residents to move south as a ground operation into the famine-stricken city was launched.
The US told Hamas time was “running out” to make a deal.
Roughly a million Palestinians were living in Gaza City before the evacuation warnings.
And over 220,000 have been forced to flee northern Gaza over the past month because of Israeli strikes.
Israel said it’s been urging Gaza locals to evacuate for the past month but charities warned Palestinians face “an impossible choice”.
They said locals either flee and face dying of starvation on the road or stay and risk being killed by Israeli forces.
On the same day, the UN confirmed Israel had committed “genocide” in Gaza since October 2023.
The organisation said Israel intended to “destroy the Palestinians”.
An IPC report said: “If a ceasefire is not implemented to allow humanitarian aid to reach everyone in the Gaza Strip…
“…if essential food supplies, basic health, nutrition and services are not restored immediately, avoidable deaths will increase exponentially.”
The war in Gaza has killed more than 64,000 people, according to the Gaza health ministry.
AFPUS President Trump suggested the decision would “reward Hamas”[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
