UK to recognise Palestine unless Israel 'takes steps' over Gaza

THE UK will recognise the state of Palestine “in September” unless Israel takes “substantive steps” to end the “appalling situation in Gaza”, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

- CAITLIN DOHERTY, DAVID LYNCH, RHIANNON JAMES, HARRY TAYLOR and HELEN CORBETT

The Prime Minister recalled his senior team of ministers from their summer recess yesterday to discuss the situation in Gaza, where the population is facing a mounting famine, according to warnings from the United Nations.

A readout of the Cabinet meeting issued by Downing Street said Sir Keir told ministers “now was the right time to move this position” on the two-state solution.

It continued: “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 (UN General Assembly), 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.”

It comes after the Prime Minister had been under increasing pressure to recognise Palestine amid the warnings of starvation in Gaza.

Speaking from Downing Street's state dining room - sometimes used for press statements - the Prime Minister then told reporters that the UK Government will “make an assessment in September on how far the parties have met these steps”.