UK Will Recognise Palestine in September – Guido Fawkes

“The Prime Minister opened by saying that he had called the meeting to address the situation in Gaza which was getting more desperate by the day. He said the recent images of starvation had deeply affected the British public and underscored the increasingly intolerable situation. He said the Government had always been clear that the terrorist attacks of October 7th were an outrage and that Hamas is a terrorist organisation who continue to hold hostages in terrible conditions.

He set out the ways in which the Government is providing aid into Gaza, with the first airdrops of British aid landing today containing around half a million pounds worth of lifesaving supplies and the acceleration of medical evacuations of sick and injured children from Gaza. He updated Cabinet on his call with the King of Jordan and the ongoing military assistance we were providing to help get aid in, but he said that airdrops were no replacement for the trucks of aid that must get to those who so badly need it. He updated on his conversation with President Trump yesterday where he underlined this position and agreed to work together to address the appalling situation on the ground.

The Prime Minister was clear that an immediate ceasefire in Gaza remains the overwhelming priority and if the ceasefire is to last, we need a credible and realistic peace plan for Gaza. He said that he had discussed this with E3 leaders over the weekend and will continue to work with international partners to develop a credible pathway to peace in Gaza. He said we were working with allies on a plan to follow after ceasefire, including the necessary governance and security arrangements needed, and reiterated there would be no role for Hamas in future governance.

Turning to recognition, the Prime Minister said it had been this Government’s longstanding position that recognition of a Palestinian state was an inalienable right of the Palestinian people and that we would recognise a Palestinian state as part of a process to peace and a Two State solution.

He said that because of the increasingly intolerable situation in Gaza and the diminishing prospect of a peace process towards a Two State Solution, now was the right time to move this position forward. He said that the UK will recognise the state of Palestine in September, before UNGA, 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. He reiterated that there is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas and that our demands on Hamas remain, that they must release all the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, accept that they will play no role in the government of Gaza, and disarm.

He committed to make an assessment ahead of UNGA on how far the parties have met these steps before making a final decision, ensuring that no one side will have a veto. He reiterated that he had taken this action to protect the viability of the Two State Solution, and that the immediate focus must be to get more aid urgently into Gaza, and that work would continue to bring allies on board with the plan that delivers a long-term settlement to the conflict.

The Foreign Secretary said that he was at the Two State Solution Conference in New York and would be speaking to allies about our peace plan and would make a statement to the General Assembly. He reiterated that our support for the security of Israel remained unchanged, but that the situation in Gaza required urgent action. He updated on work with Jordan and UAE to get urgent aid into Gaza in the past 24 hours but that we now need to see this move in at scale.

The Cabinet also marked a minute silence for the horrific attacks in Southport one year ago today.”