Israel, US condemn Keir Starmer’s move to recognise Palestinian state as a ‘reward for Hamas’

Israel and the US have condemned Starmer’s announcement that a move to recognise a Palestinian state could happen in September unless Israel ends the ‘appalling’ situation in Gaza.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a statement inside No. 10 Downing Street on the day the cabinet was recalled to discuss the situation in Gaza. Picture: Toby Melville, Pool Photo via AP

Israel and the US have accused British Prime Minister Keir Starmer of “rewarding Hamas” after he announced the UK would follow France and recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel took “substantive steps” in Gaza.

Sir Keir recalled his ministers for a rare summertime Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, local time, to discuss the situation in Gaza amid as he faced growing pressure from his party to step up pressure on Israel.

He told his Cabinet that Britain would recognise a state of Palestine before the United Nations General Assembly, “unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, reaches a ceasefire, makes clear there will be no annexation in the West Bank, and commits to a long-term peace process that delivers a two state solution”.

In a later address at Downing Street, he said now was the “moment to act”.

“I have always said that we will recognise a Palestinian state as a contribution to a proper peace process at the moment of maximum impact for the two-state solution,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lambasted the decision, saying the move could result in Hamas threatening Britain.

“Starmer rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism and punishes its victims,” Mr Netanyahu said. “A jihadist state on Israel’s border today will threaten Britain tomorrow. Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you too. It will not happen.”

US State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce, also hit out at Sir Keir, saying the move was a “slap in the face” for the victims of the October 7 massacre.

“It gives one group hope, and that’s Hamas,” Ms Bruce told reporters. “It is a rewarding of that kind of behaviour that if you wait long enough, if you don’t co-operate in any other normal environment where someone was so utterly defeated, they would surrender.”

Earlier Donald Trump refused to criticise Sir Keir’s decision, telling reporters after meeting the Prime Minister that the UK was “going the same as Macron,” adding: “OK, it doesn’t mean I have to agree”.

Pressed on the issue, Mr Trump said: “You could make a case that you’re rewarding Hamas if you do that. I don’t think they should be rewarded. I’m not in that camp.”

Israel rejects the statement by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

The shift in the British government’s position at this time, following the French move and internal political pressures, constitutes a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and… pic.twitter.com/CG2tueCYRe

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) July 29, 2025

Speaking on Sky News UK on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning AEST), backbencher Dawn Butler said Labour MPs briefed about Sir Keir’s announcement and “we were told it is unconditional”.

“I wonder if it will be clarified,” she said.

Britain’s Labour Party has long supported the idea of an independent Palestinian state existing alongside Israel, but has said recognition should come as part of a negotiated two-state solution to the conflict.

Pressure to formally recognise Palestinian statehood has mounted since French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country will become the first major Western power to recognise a Palestinian state in September.

Mr Macron’s announcement last week drew a strong rebuke from both Israel and the United States, however Sir Keir was believed to have presented his plan for the long-running conflict in the Middle East to US President Donald Trump when the pair met in Scotland on Monday.

Donald Trump and Keir Starmer board Air Force One at Prestwick Airport ahead of a flight to northeast Scotland on Monday. Picture: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Mr Trump appeared to give his blessing for the recognition move, saying during a wide-ranging press conference lasting more than an hour that “I don’t mind him (Sir Keir) taking a position.”

Speaking Tuesday, Sir Keir also detailed several demands for the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is holding Israeli hostages seized in its attacks on October 7, 2023.

“They must immediately release all of the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza,” he said.

The UK leader added that London “will make an assessment in September on how far the parties have met these steps”, adding: “No one should have a veto over our decision.”

Some 220 British politicians from nine parties including Sir Keir’s Labour published a letter last Friday urging him to formally recognise a Palestinian state.

The commitment was included in Labour’s election-winning manifesto last year, as part of “a two-state solution with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state”.

Meanwhile the UK carried out its first air drop of aid into Gaza on Tuesday “containing around half a million pounds worth of lifesaving supplies”.

“The Palestinian people have endured terrible suffering now in Gaza because of a catastrophic failure of aid, we see starving babies, children too weak to stand,” Sir Keir said in a televised address, adding “the suffering must end”.

AP, AFP