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Two government officials said Britain was actively weighing the recognition of a Palestinian state, in a shift driven by public pressure over starvation in Gaza.
July 29, 2025, 12:01 a.m. ET
Britain is now more actively weighing the recognition of a Palestinian state, two senior government officials said Monday, a striking shift prompted by public revulsion at the images of starving children in Gaza and intense pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer from lawmakers in his own Labour Party.
Mr. Starmer did not follow President Emmanuel Macron when he announced last week that France would recognize the state of Palestine. The British prime minister said in a statement at the time that recognition had to be part of “a wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis.”
But the British officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations, said momentum was building because of the escalating humanitarian crisis, with reports of deaths from starvation in Gaza after months of restrictions on aid imposed by the Israeli authorities.
Mr. Starmer has long backed the right of Palestinians to an independent state. But officials said he had resisted immediate recognition because he viewed it as a largely “performative” gesture that would not improve conditions on the ground and could even complicate negotiations to strike a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
Those arguments have not satisfied the more than 250 members of Parliament from nine parties, including Labour, who signed a letter to Mr. Starmer and the foreign secretary, David Lammy, urging Britain to recognize Palestine at a United Nations’ conference this week devoted to a two-state solution.
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