Starmer warns UK will recognize Palestine if Gaza ceasefire fails; Netanyahu fires back

UK says will recognise Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to ceasefire

United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer that the country will recognise the State of Palestine formally in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza and takes other steps to improve humanitarian conditions there, including allowing the United Nations to bring in aid.

“The UK will recognise the state of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September, unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire, and commit to a long-term sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution, and this includes allowing the UN to restart the supply of aid and making clear that there will be no annexations in the West Bank” Starmer said.

Addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, he stated that babies are starving due to a “catastrophic failure of aid.” “The suffering must end,” he added.

Starmer also spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday about the situation in Gaza and noted that UK aid was airdropped into the region on Tuesday.

Following this, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Starmer, warning that such a move could potentially backfire on the UK.

“A jihadist state on Israel’s border TODAY will threaten Britain TOMORROW,” he wrote, warning against what he called dangerous appeasement. “Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you, too. It will not happen,” Netanyahu added, accusing Starmer of “rewarding Hamas’s monstrous terrorism and punishing its victims.”