LONDON — The U.K., Australia and Canada confirmed Sunday that they are formally recognizing a Palestinian state despite vociferous opposition from the U.S. and Israel.
The coordinated initiative from the Commonwealth nations and longtime allies of Israel, announced on the eve of the annual U.N. General Assembly gathering, reflects growing outrage at Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza and the steps taken by the Israeli government to thwart any efforts to create a Palestinian state, including by the continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has faced pressure to take a harder line on Israel within his governing Labor Party, said his nation’s move is intended “to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis.” But he insisted that it wasn’t a reward for Hamas, which rules Gaza and is designated a terrorist group by the U.K. and the U.S.
“Today, to revive the hope of peace and a two-state solution, I state clearly as prime minister of this great country that the United Kingdom formally recognizes the state of Palestine,” Starmer said in his video message. “We recognized the state of Israel more than 75 years ago as a homeland for the Jewish people. Today we join over 150 countries who recognize a Palestinian state also. A pledge to the Palestinian and Israeli people that there can be a better future.”
The announcement was widely anticipated after Starmer said in July that Britain would recognize a Palestinian state unless Israel agreed to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, allowed the United Nations to bring in aid and took other steps toward long-term peace.
More countries are expected to do so at the U.N. General Assembly this week, including France, which like the U.K.,is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in his statement that the three announcements Sunday were “part of a coordinated international effort to build new momentum for a two-state solution.”
International outrage has mounted over Israel’s 23-month war on Gaza, which has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts saying Gaza City is experiencing famine. A U.N. commission this month declared that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, a claim Israel denies.
Palestinian and Israeli reactions
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed Britain’s announcement, emphasizing that it constitutes an important and necessary step toward achieving a just peace in accordance with international law.
There was no immediate reaction from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but ahead of the decision Sunday his spokesperson, Shosh Bedrosian, said the leader considered the maneuver “absurd and simply a reward for terrorism.”
Dissenting views
The U.K.’s recognition of a Palestinian state comes just days after a state visit to Britain by President Trump, during which he voiced his disapproval of the plan.
Critics, including the U.S. and the Israeli government, which has rejected the idea of a two-state solution, have condemned the plans, saying it rewards Hamas for its attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and left 251 others taken hostage.
As well as arguing that recognition is immoral, critics contend that it’s an empty gesture given that the Palestinian people are divided into two territories — the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — with no recognized international capital.
Historical overlay
The U.K. and France have a historical role in the politics of the Middle East over the last 100 years, having carved up the region after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I.
As part of that carve-up, the U.K. became the governing power of what was then Palestine. It was also author of the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which backed the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people.”
However, the second part of the declaration has been largely neglected over the decades. It noted “that nothing shall be done, nothing which may prejudice the civil and religious rights” of the Palestinian people.
“It’s significant for France and the U.K. to recognize Palestine because of the legacy of these two countries’ involvement in the Middle East,” said Burcu Ozcelik, senior research fellow for Middle East Security at London-based Royal United Services Institute. “But without the United States coming on board with the idea of a Palestine, I think very little will change on the ground.”
The Palestinian head of mission in the U.K., Husam Zomlot, told the BBC that recognition would right a colonial-era wrong.
“The issue today is ending the denial of our existence that started 108 years ago, in 1917,” he said. “And I think today, the British people should celebrate a day when history is being corrected, when wrongs are being righted, when recognition of the wrongs of the past are beginning to be corrected.”
Change of tack
The U.K. has for decades supported an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, but insisted recognition must come as part of a peace plan to achieve a two-state solution.
But the government has become increasingly worried that such a solution is becoming all but impossible — not only because of the razing of Gaza and displacement of most of its population during nearly two years of conflict, but because Israel’s government is aggressively expanding settlements in the West Bank, land Palestinians want for their future state. Much of the world regards Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, which is ostensibly run by the Palestinian Authority, as illegal.
“This move has symbolic and historic weight, makes clear the U.K.’s concerns about the survival of a two-state solution, and is intended to keep that goal relevant and alive,” said Olivia O’Sullivan, director of the U.K. in the World Program at the London-based think tank Chatham House.
Pylas writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.
