Following France, UK Also Warns: "Will Recognize Palestine as a State if Israel Does Not Agree to Ceasefire"

Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom has announced that if Israel does not agree to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip by September, the UK will recognize Palestine as a state.

On the 29th (local time), following a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Starmer delivered a speech stating, "With the two-state solution at risk, now is the time to take action," making this announcement.

Prime Minister Starmer said that, in addition to ending the war in the Gaza Strip, if Israel does not pledge not to annex the West Bank and does not take concrete steps toward achieving long-term sustainable peace in the Middle East, the UK will recognize Palestine as a state at the United Nations General Assembly in September.

He also emphasized that Hamas, the Palestinian armed faction, must release the remaining hostages, agree to a ceasefire, and accept that it will play no role in the governance of the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Starmer stated that the UK would assess the extent to which these conditions have been met in September and then make a final decision.

Amid growing calls from the international community to end the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, and following France's announcement on the 24th that it would recognize Palestine as a state at the United Nations General Assembly in September, pressure has increased on the Starmer administration. Recently, more than 220 members of the House of Commons sent an open letter to Prime Minister Starmer urging recognition of the Palestinian state, and key cabinet ministers have also made this demand. The Labour Party, led by Starmer, explicitly stated in its manifesto during last year's general election that it was "committed to recognizing the state of Palestine as a contribution to a new peace process leading to a two-state solution."

However, media outlets such as The New York Times reported that it is unlikely Israel will accept these demands. On the same day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Starmer's remarks on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), saying, "You are rewarding Hamas's horrific terrorism and punishing its victims," and added, "Appeasement of jihadist terrorists has always failed, and you will fail as well," expressing his opposition.