Keir Starmer is facing pressure from cabinet ministers to immediately recognise Palestine as a state, amid growing global outcry over Israel's actions in Gaza. The prime minister has been urged by several senior ministers in recent cabinet meetings that the UK should take a leading role in issuing recognition.
The UK currently plans to formally acknowledge Palestine as part of a peace process, but only in conjunction with other Western countries and 'at the point of maximum impact'. However, there has been a growing sense of desperation inside the Labour cabinet over Israel's killing of starving Palestinian civilians and attacks on humanitarian agencies.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting is among those pushing for action, calling Israel's attack on a World Health Organization facility 'intolerable'. In a Commons intervention, he urged recognition 'while there's still a state of Palestine left to recognise'. Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn have also raised the issue.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the UK would 'play its part' in reaching a two-state solution, including working with France. France and Saudi Arabia are co-chairing an international conference at the UN in New York later this month to discuss postwar plans for Gaza and preparations for formally acknowledging Palestine.
Prime Minister Starmer told the Commons liaison committee that the situation in Gaza was 'intolerable' and reiterated the UK's commitment to recognising a Palestinian state 'at a time most conducive to the prospects of peace'.
