The UK has announced its plan to recognise Palestine as a state if Israel fails to halts its assault in Gaza.
The two-state solution is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, by creating two states on the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine.
It is often contrasted with the one-state solution, which is the establishment a single state in former Mandatory Palestine with equal rights for all its inhabitants.
The two-state solution is supported by many countries and the Palestinian Authority. Israel currently does not support the idea, though it has in the past.
Addressing his cabinet, on Tuesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said if the hostilities continue, by September the United Kingdom will recognise the state of Palestine.
According to a government statement issued after an emergency cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Starmer said the move could come before the United Nations General Assembly in New York unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire, halts plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, and supports a political path towards a two-state solution.
“[Starmer] reiterated that there is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas and that our demands on Hamas remain, that they must release all the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, accept that they will play no role in the government of Gaza, and disarm,” the statement added.
While past UK governments have supported Palestinian statehood “when the time is right”, none has publicly tied it to a specific deadline or laid out preconditions so explicitly.
Israel lashed out at the UK following the announcement, calling it a “reward for Hamas” that would only undermine diplomatic efforts to end the war on Gaza.
In a statement posted on X, Israel’s Foreign Ministry claimed the UK’s move would damage any chance of a ceasefire. Israel broke the last negotiated ceasefire in March.
Starmer informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the plan in a phone call before making it public,
The development comes amid the UN alarm of looming famine in Gaza.
More than one in three people in Gaza are now going days at a time without food, an alert issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, a United Nations (UN)-backed assessment, said.
It said there is mounting evidence that widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths among the 2.1 million Palestinians there.
“This is the worst-case scenario of famine unfolding in Gaza. Only immediate action to end hostilities and unimpeded, large-scale humanitarian access can stop further deaths and catastrophic human suffering,” the IPC said.
Earlier, Hamas said the death toll from the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza has reached 60,034.
In an update on Tuesday, the Hamas-run health minister pegged the number of those injured in Gaza at 145,870.
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