Palestinians climb onto trucks carrying aid supplies that entered Gaza through Israel, in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
UNITED NATIONS/LONDON--Britain said on Tuesday it would recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes steps to relieve suffering in Gaza, where starvation is spreading, and reaches a ceasefire in the nearly two-year war with Hamas.
The warning, which drew a harsh Israeli rebuke, came after a hunger monitor said a worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding and immediate action is needed to avoid widespread death. Palestinian authorities said more than 60,000 Palestinians were now confirmed killed by Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip.
The hunger alert and the new death toll are grim milestones in the current conflict that began in October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel, sparking an offensive that has flattened much of the enclave and ignited hostilities across the Middle East.The alert by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) raised the prospect that the starvation crisis in Gaza could be formally classified as a famine, in the hope that this might raise the pressure on Israel to let in far more food.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's warning heightens pressure on Israel amid an international outcry over its conduct of the war. France announced last week it would recognise Palestinian statehood in September, a move that enraged the Israeli government.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a post on X that Starmer's decision "rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism & punishes its victims," adding that "A jihadist state on Israel’s border TODAY will threaten Britain TOMORROW."
U.S. President Donald Trump said he did not discuss Britain's plans on Palestinian statehood during talks with Starmer in Scotland on Monday, when he told reporters he did "not mind" if Britain made such a move. But on Tuesday he said aboard Air Force One that he did not think Hamas "should be rewarded" with recognition of Palestinian independence.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described Starmer's decision as “bold,” according to Palestinian state news agency WAFA.
Starmer told his cabinet that Britain would recognize Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly in September "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," his government said.
The move, if carried through, would be mostly symbolic, with Israel occupying the territories where the Palestinians have long aimed to establish that state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital.It makes Israel more isolated on the international stage as a growing number of countries call for it to allow unfettered aid into Gaza, where it controls all entry and exit points to the besieged coastal territory.
However, Trump's administration - Israel's closest and most influential ally - has made clear it has no intention of joining others in recognising Palestinian statehood anytime soon. Since returning to office in January, Trump has been vague about whether or not he would support an eventual Palestinian state.
Starmer held separate phone calls with Netanyahu and Abbas on Tuesday before making his announcement.
With the international furore over Gaza's ordeal growing, Israel announced steps over the weekend to ease aid access. But the U.N. World Food Programme said on Tuesday it was not getting the permissions it needed to deliver enough aid since Israel began humanitarian pauses in warfare on Sunday.
"Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths," the IPC said, adding that "famine thresholds" have been reached for food consumption in most of Gaza.It said it would quickly carry out the formal analysis that could allow it to classify Gaza as "in famine".
Gaza health authorities have been reporting more and more people dying from hunger-related causes. The total stands at 147, among them 88 children, most of whom died in the last few weeks.
