LONDON, Sept 21 – The UK, Canada and Australia have announced their formal recognition of a Palestinian state.
In a video statement, released on social media, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the move keeps “alive the possibility of peace” and that the UK will “keep fighting to bring” home Israeli hostages.
In his own video statement, Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu accuses the nations of “giving a huge reward to terrorism” and says a Palestinian state “will not happen”.
“I have a clear message to those leaders who recognise a Palestinian state after the terrible massacre on October 7 – you are giving a huge reward to terrorism,” he says.
“And I have another message for you – it will not happen. A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River.”
Meanwhile, families of those still being held in Gaza express concern – in an open letter to Starmer, they say recognition “complicates efforts to bring home our loved ones”.
Earlier, Deputy PM David Lammy defended the UK’s position, telling the BBC “now is the time to stand up for a two-state solution”
Hamas, which the UK and many other nations have designated as a terrorist organisation, has welcomed the news that the UK, Canada and Australia have all formally recognised a Palestinian state.
In a statement, the armed group and political movement in Gaza says: “This recognition is an important step in affirming the right of our Palestinian people to their land and holy sites, and to establish their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.”
Two of the most hardline figures in Netanyahu’s government, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have responded by calling for Israel to assert “sovereignty” over the West Bank.
The pair, who are both ultranationalists who live in West Bank settlements, have previously been sanctioned by the UK for inciting violence against Palestinians.
On the other side of Israel’s parliament, opposition leader Yair Lapid says the UK and others have made “a bad step” but lays the blame with Netanyahu, saying “a functioning Israeli government could have prevented this”.
