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Over a third of Members of Parliament have endorsed a letter addressed to Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer, urging the UK government to formally recognize a Palestinian state.
The appeal has garnered support from approximately 220 MPs across nine political parties, with Labour members constituting over half of the signatories. Backers of the initiative contend that UK recognition would constitute a “powerful” signal and a crucial advancement towards a two-state solution.
This letter amplifies pressure on the Prime Minister, following France’s commitment to recognize Palestinian statehood within the coming months.
In a prior statement issued after an emergency discussion with French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz, Sir Keir Starmer stipulated that the recognition of Palestinian statehood must be integrated into a “wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution.”
Sir Keir’s statement elaborated: “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 affirmed the government’s commitment to “pull every lever” to deliver vital food and support to Palestinians, as well as to evacuate children “who need urgent medical assistance.”
“This humanitarian catastrophe must end,” he stated in a post on X. In a concurrent video statement, he indicated the UK’s participation in air-dropping aid to Palestinians, subsequent to 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 the UK, France, and Germany, issued after their call, did not explicitly mention Palestinian statehood.
However, it affirmed that all three nations “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 conveyed criticism of the Israeli government, demanding an end to restrictions on aid and emphasizing that “the humanitarian catastrophe that we are witnessing in Gaza must end now.”
The statement further emphasized the necessity for Hamas to be disarmed and to “have no role in the future of Gaza”.
The letter follows condemnation from the UK and 27 other nations regarding the “drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians” seeking sustenance and water in Gaza.
Israel, which maintains control over the entry of all supplies into the Palestinian territory, has consistently denied the existence of a siege and attributes instances of malnutrition to Hamas.
The Israeli foreign ministry dismissed the countries’ statement as “disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas”.
According to the UN human rights office, over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while attempting to secure food aid in the past two months.
Israel asserts that its troops have only discharged warning shots and that they do not intentionally target civilians.
The letter’s signatories include 131 Labour MPs, among them prominent figures such as former minister Liam Byrne and committee chair Ruth Cadbury.
Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Ed Davey, former Conservative minister Kit Malthouse, and Conservative Sir Edward Leigh – Parliament’s longest-serving MP – have also endorsed the appeal.
The letter has received support from SNP, Green Party, Plaid Cymru, SDLP, and independent members of parliament.
The letter posits that Parliament has maintained a “cross-party consensus for decades” concerning the recognition of Palestinian statehood as integral to a “two-state solution”.
While recognition alone would not resolve the suffering in Gaza, the MPs assert that “British recognition of Palestine would be particularly powerful” considering its historical involvement in the region.
Labour MP Sarah Champion, chair of the international development select committee and organizer of the letter, stated that 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.
Reports indicate that approximately 60 MPs previously signed a letter to Foreign Secretary David Lammy last month, while a motion in Parliament garnered 110 signatures.
In 2014, the House of Commons passed a non-binding motion advocating for government recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, which received overwhelming support from MPs.
A majority of countries – approximately 139 in total – formally recognize a Palestinian state, although many European nations and the United States maintain that they will only do so as part of a long-term resolution to the conflict.
Spain, Ireland, and Norway formally took this step last year, with the intention of exerting diplomatic pressure to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.
Within the United Nations (UN), Palestinian representatives possess limited rights to participate in UN activities, and the territory receives recognition from various international organizations, including the Arab League.
Skeptics argue that recognition would primarily constitute a symbolic gesture absent the resolution of questions pertaining to the leadership and territorial extent of a Palestinian state.
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