220 MPs call for Starmer to recognise Palestinian state

More than a third of MPs have signed a letter to Sir Keir Starmer calling for the UK to recognise a Palestinian state.

Some 220 MPs from nine political parties have backed the call - more than half of them Labour - arguing that UK recognition would send a "powerful" message and a vital step toward a two-state solution.

The letter piles pressure on the prime minister after France committed to recognising a Palestinian statehood within months.

In an earlier statement after an emergency phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Friedrich Merz, Sir Keir said recognising Palestinian statehood would have to be part of a "wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution".

In his statement, Sir Keir said: "Alongside our closest allies, I am working on a pathway to peace in the region, focused on the practical solutions that will make a real difference to the lives of those that are suffering in this war.

"That pathway will set out the concrete steps needed to turn the ceasefire so desperately needed, into a lasting peace.

"Recognition of a Palestinian state has to be one of those steps. I am unequivocal about that.

"But it must be part of a wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis."

On Friday evening, Sir Keir said the government would "pull every lever" to get food and life saving support to Palestinians, and evacuate children "who need urgent medical assistance".

"This humanitarian catastrophe must end," he added in a post on X. He also said in a video statement the same day that the UK would play a role in air-dropping aid to Palestinians, following Israel's acceptance of the plan.

"We are already working urgently with the Jordanian authorities to get British aid on to planes and into Gaza," he said.

A joint statement from the leaders of UK, France and Germany, following their call does not mention Palestinian statehood.

But it said all three countries "stand ready to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political process that leads to lasting security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region".

The statement is critical of the Israeli government, demanding an end to aid restrictions and warning the "humanitarian catastrophe that we are witnessing in Gaza must end now".

The statement also stresses Hamas must be disarmed and "have no role in the future of Gaza".

The letter comes after the UK and 27 other countries condemned the "drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians" seeking food and water in Gaza.

Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies into the Palestinian territory, has repeatedly said that there is no siege and blames Hamas for cases of malnutrition.

Israel's foreign ministry rejected the countries' statement, saying it was "disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas".

According to the UN human rights office, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while trying to get food aid over the past two months.

Israel has said its troops have only fired warning shots and that they do not intentionally shoot civilians.

The letter has been signed by 131 Labour MPs, including senior figures like former minister Liam Byrne and committee chair Ruth Cadbury.

Lib Dem Leader Sir Ed Davey, former Tory minister Kit Malthouse and Conservative Sir Edward Leigh - Parliament's longest serving MP - have also signed.

SNP, Greens, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and independents were among those who signed the letter.

The letter argued that a Parliament has held a "cross-party consensus for decades" on recognising Palestinian statehood as part of a "two-state solution".

While recognition alone would not end the suffering in Gaza, "British recognition of Palestine would be particularly powerful" given its history in the region, the MPs say.

Labour MP Sarah Champion, who chairs the international development select committee and who organised the letter, said a two-state solution "remains the only viable proposal to secure a lasting peace for the region".

"Recognition would send a powerful symbolic message that we support the rights of the Palestinian people, that they are not alone and they need to maintain hope that there is a route that leads to lasting peace and security for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people," she added.

Last month, about 60 MPs reportedly signed a letter to Foreign Secretary David Lammy, and a motion in Parliament was signed by 110 MPs.

In 2014, the House of Commons passed a non-binding motion calling on the government to recognise a Palestinian state alongside Israel, which was backed by an overwhelming majority of MPs.

Most countries - about 139 in all - formally recognise a Palestinian state, although many European nations and the United States say they will only do so as part of moves towards a long-term resolution to the conflict.

Spain, Ireland and Norway formally took the step last year, hoping to exert diplomatic pressure to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.

At the United Nations (UN), Palestinian representatives have limited rights to participate in UN activity, and the territory is also recognised by various international organisations, including the Arab League.

Sceptics argue recognition would largely be a symbolic gesture unless questions over the leadership and extent of a Palestinian state are addressed first.

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