Britain recognises Palestinian state after Israel ignores ultimatum

By Catarina Demony, Alistair Smout and Andrew MacAskill

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain said on Sunday it was recognising a Palestinian state after Israel failed to meet conditions including a ceasefire in the nearly two-year-old Gaza war.

"Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine," Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on X.

London's step aligns it with more than 140 other nations but will irk both Israel and its main ally the United States.

The decision carries symbolic weight as Britain played a major role in Israel's creation as a modern nation in the aftermath of World War Two and has long been its ally.

Canada and Australia also recognised a Palestinian state on Sunday and other countries are expected to do so this week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

In a move that put Starmer at odds with U.S. President Donald Trump, Britain had issued Israel with an ultimatum in July saying it would recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel took steps to end the "appalling situation" in Gaza.

Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian Mission in London, called the decision a "long-overdue recognition" that "is not about Palestine, but about Britain's fulfilment of a solemn responsibility".

"It marks an irreversible step towards justice, peace, and the correction of historic wrongs," he added in a statement.

Starmer had said in July that Britain would recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel reached a ceasefire with Hamas militants, let more aid into Gaza, made clear there would be no annexation of the West Bank, and committed to a peace process delivering a two-state solution.

"Since that announcement in July, in fact, with the attack on Qatar, a ceasefire at this point lays in tatters, and the prospects are bleak," Lammy said, noting Israel had also moved forward with a settlement plan.

Starmer has been under pressure from many of his own lawmakers, angry at the rising death toll in Gaza and images of starving children.

BRITAIN'S HISTORIC INVOLVEMENT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this month there will never be a Palestinian state and has accused countries that recognise a Palestinian state of rewarding "Hamas's monstrous terrorism".

Londoners voiced mixed reactions.

"A whole lot needs to happen and peace needs to come to that region," said 56-year-old charity director Michael Angus. "This is the first step in actually acknowledging that those people have a right to have somewhere to call home."

Retiree Stephen, who declined to give his last name, said the government "probably means well" but argued the move was misguided: "They are sort of abandoning Israel... and with Hamas, (they) are almost sort of supporting them."

Lammy previously said Britain has a historic responsibility to facilitate a two-state solution, dating back to the 1917 Balfour Declaration which pledged that the creation of a Jewish state would not infringe on Arab rights.

British troops captured Jerusalem from the Ottoman Empire in 1917, and in 1922 the League of Nations awarded Britain an international mandate to administer Palestine during the post-war deal-making that redrew the map of the Middle East.

"While a welcome step, Britain owes Palestine far more than recognition," said Victor Kattan, public international law professor and adviser to the "Britain Owes Palestine" campaign, arguing for an apology and reparations for engineering violent divisions.

The decision may mean the Palestinian Mission in London is upgraded to embassy status. It could also result in banning products that come from Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.

(Reporting by Catarina Demony, Andrew MacAskill, Alistair Smout, Marissa Davison and Vitalli Yalahuzian;Editing by Andrew Heavens, Hugh Lawson, Gareth Jones, Christina Fincher and Andrew Cawthorne)