Donald Trump has lined up with Israel to warn against ‘rewarding Hamas’ after Sir Keir Starmer announced Britain will recognise a Palestinian state within weeks.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu reacted furiously to Sir Keir’s ultimatum for his country to make peace with the terror group which inflicted the October 7 atrocities.
In a major diplomatic shift, Sir Keir said the UK Government will recognise Palestine in September unless Israel ends the war in Gaza and agrees to drop its opposition to a two–state solution to the Middle East crisis.
But Mr Netanyahu warned: ‘A jihadist state on Israel’s border today will threaten Britain tomorrow,’ adding: ‘Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you too. It will not happen.’
Mr Trump, speaking to reporters on his way back to the US after meeting Sir Keir in Scotland this week, said he and the PM did not discuss the move.
‘We never did discuss it, and we have no view on that,’ the US President said.
But, asked about putting pressure on Israel now to agree to a longer–term solution to the Gaza crisis, Mr Trump added: ‘You could make the case that you’re rewarding people, that you’re rewarding Hamas if you do that.
‘I don’t think they should be rewarded. So I’m not in that camp, to be honest. We’ll let you know where we are – but I am not in that camp.
‘Because if you do that you really are rewarding Hamas and I’m not about to do that.’
US State department spokesman Tammy Bruce said Sir Keir’s remarks were a ‘slap in the face for the victims of October 7’.
‘It allows it to continue. It gives one group hope, and that’s Hamas. It is a rewarding of that kind of behavior,’ she said.
‘There’s one group that benefits from the images, the reality of the horribleness, and that’s Hamas. And so there’s a reason why they don’t cooperate and stop.’
Donald Trump has lined up with Israel to warn against ‘rewarding Hamas’ after Sir Keir Starmer announced Britain will recognise a Palestinian state within weeks
The US President arrived back at the White House after meeting with Sir Keir in Scotland this week
The PM delivered a statement inside Downing Street declaring that Britain will recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel ends ‘appalling’ crisis in Gaza
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu reacted furiously to Sir Keir’s statement, warning the move will ‘threaten Britain’
In a post on X, the Israeli PM said: ‘Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you too. It will not happen’
One of Sir Keir’s Cabinet ministers this morning denied that recognising a Palestinian state represented a ‘reward for Hamas’.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told Times Radio that plans to recognise Palestinian statehood are ‘not at all’ about appeasing the terror group.
‘Not at all. This isn’t about Hamas. This is about the Palestinian people,’ she said.
‘It’s been the longstanding position of my party and indeed this Government when we came to power last year that we would recognise the state of Palestine at a point in time when it would have maximum impact.’
Ms Alexander also said Britain expects ‘Hamas to act in the same way as we expect Israel to act’, when asked if the release of hostages is a condition of Sir Keir’s pledge to recognise a Palestinian state.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the Transport Secretary added: ‘Hamas need to release the hostages, they need to disarm, and they also need to accept that they will have no future role in the governance of Gaza.
‘They are a vile terrorist organisation that has perpetrated heinous crimes and awful atrocities on the Israeli people.’
Asked directly if the release of hostages is a condition on recognition, she replied: ‘We will be making an assessment in September and we expect Hamas to act in the same way as we expect Israel to act.
‘We’re giving Israel eight weeks to act. If they want to be sat at the table to shape that enduring peace in the region, they must act.’
Government sources told The Times that Sir Keir did not put specific conditions on Hamas for the recognition of a Palestinian state because, as a terrorist organisation, it would not be involved in talks for a two-state solution.
Dame Priti Patel, the Tory shadow foreign secretary, claimed the PM was ‘conceding to pressure’ from Labour MPs to recognise Palestine.
She accused Sir Keir of acting ‘without a plan’, adding: ‘I think it’s a major problem for the British Government and also for Britain’s standing in the world.
‘We’ve seen this terrible situation of humanitarian crisis in Gaza for months upon months now, and Britain simply hasn’t been leveraging its influence.
‘It hasn’t been at the negotiating table. It’s not really done anything in terms of making sure that we’re stepping up to release the hostages, ensure that Hamas has no future role to play.
‘All the British Government has done is effectively issue condemnations to Israel, which I think has emboldened Hamas, and that has not helped anybody.
‘It’s certainly not helped the people in Gaza. It’s not helped aid get into Gaza.’
Speaking after an emergency Cabinet meeting on the issue on Tuesday, Sir Keir said the ‘terrible suffering’ in Gaza meant it was ‘the moment to act’ to inject new life into a peace process which has been on hold since the October 7 attacks on Israel.
The move is designed to quell growing anger within Labour over the Government’s stance on the conflict. But Sir Keir’s intervention provoked an angry response from all sides on Tuesday, seemingly satisfying no–one.
Kemi Badenoch said Sir Keir had put internal Labour Party management before the national interest.
The Tory leader said: ‘When the country is looking for answers on asylum hotels, the cost of living is getting worse, and doctors are threatening to go on strike again – further endangering lives, it’s disgraceful that Keir Starmer recalled his Cabinet to try and sort out a political problem for the Labour Party.
‘Recognising a Palestinian state won’t bring the hostages home, won’t end the war and won’t get aid into Gaza. This is political posturing at its very worst.’
Fellow Tory Ben Obese–Jecty said the PM’s move was ‘pure virtue signalling by Keir Starmer… after being railroaded by his MPs’.
The PM’s decision follows the lead of Emmanuel Macron earlier this month, who said France would recognise a Palestinian state at a United Nations summit in New York in September.
Sir Keir said the UK was working to the same timetable in an effort to restart efforts for a two–state solution which have been in the deep freeze for almost two years.
Donald Trump on Tuesday denied Sir Keir had briefed him on the idea of recognising Palestine when the two leaders held talks in Scotland on Monday.
The White House pointed to comments made by Mr Trump at a joint press conference on Monday, when he said: ‘I’m not going to take a position. I don’t mind him [Starmer] taking a position. I’m looking for getting people fed right now.’
But speaking before Sir Keir’s announcement, Mike Huckabee, US ambassador to Israel warned that recognising Palestine while Hamas is still in control in Gaza would be ‘like letting the Nazis have a victory after World War Two’.
People take part in a pro–Palestine protest outside Downing Street in London moments before Sir Keir announced Britain would recognise a Palestinian state
Pro–Palestinian demonstrators gather outside Downing Street with pots and pans to protest over the lack of aid in Gaza
Sir Keir rang Benjamin Netanyahu to warn him of the change in the UK’s position, but Downing Street declined to comment on the Israeli leader’s response.
The dramatic move came just days after the PM rejected calls to recognise Palestine immediately. Last week, Labour sources suggested Britain would not take the step until a ceasefire was in place and Hamas returned the remaining Israeli hostages seized on October 7.
But Labour pressure on the PM has mounted in recent days. More than 250 MPs across all parties have signed a letter calling on him to take the step and senior Cabinet ministers including Angela Rayner, Ed Miliband and Wes Streeting have been warning him he was in danger of leaving it too late.
Technology secretary Peter Kyle yesterday said the Palestinian people need to be ‘rewarded for what they’ve been through and have the tools at their disposal to move them towards the kind of peace, stability and dignity that every citizen in every country is owed’.
In a hastily–arranged TV statement in No 10 earlier this evening after consulting his Cabinet, many of whom dialled in from elsewhere, Sir Keir said the shocking recent images of starving children in Gaza ‘will stay with us for a lifetime’.
He added: ‘I’ve always said we will recognise a Palestinian state as a contribution to a proper peace process, at the moment of maximum impact for the two–state solution.
‘With that solution now under threat, this is the moment to act.’The PM said the government would recognise Palestine in September ‘unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long–term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two–state solution’.
He said demands on Hamas to release the hostages, agree a ceasefire and disarm remained ‘unchanged’.
Mr Trump and Sir Keir arrive at the Trump International Golf Links course in Aberdeen on Monday
Sir Keir talks with Mr Trump during a bilateral meeting at the Trump Turnberry Golf Course
The PM did not appear to link recognition of Palestine to any concessions by Hamas, but government sources insisted that the actions of the terrorist group would be ‘assessed’ alongside those of Israel before a final decision is taken next month.
With neither side likely to meet the tests set by the PM in the coming weeks, the Government is now on course to recognise Palestine while part of the territory is still run by Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group in the UK. Sir Keir yesterday insisted Hamas could ‘play no part’ in running Gaza.
It remains unclear exactly what borders Britain would recognise for Palestine or who it would deal with as the legitimate government.
Critics pointed out that the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, who held talks with Sir Keir by phone earlier this evening, has not held an election for almost 20 years.
Labour MPs pushing for recognition of Palestinian statehood also voiced disappointment about Sir Keir’s decision to give Israel a chance to head it off, albeit with conditions that are highly unlikely to be met.
The senior Labour MP Sarah Champion, who co–ordinated the mass letter by MPs, said she was ‘delighted and relieved’ by the breakthrough. But she said she was ‘troubled (that) our recognition appears conditional on Israel’s actions’.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is now setting up a left–wing rival to Labour, accused Sir Keir of treating Palestinian statehood as a ‘bargaining chip’ when it should be seen as ‘an inalienable right of the Palestinian people’.
He added: ‘Our demands on this shameful government remain the same: end all arms sales to Israel, impose widespread sanctions, and stop the genocide, now.’
The Labour Friends of Israel group said it was committed to a two–state solution but warned that ‘recognition of a Palestinian state outside of a meaningful peace process will change nothing on the ground and will damage our reputation as an impartial broker, reducing our ability to bring about a sustainable long–term peace.’
