Over 220 UK MPs urge Starmer to recognise Palestinian state

More than 220 British MPs, including dozens from the ruling Labour party, demanded on July 25 that the British government formally recognise a Palestinian state, further increasing pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

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LONDON -

The call, in a letter signed by lawmakers from nine British political parties, came less than 24 hours after French President Emmanuel Macron said that his country would formally recognise a Palestinian state at a UN meeting in September.

France would be the first Group of Seven country and the most powerful European nation to date to make the move, already drawing condemnation from Israel and the US.

Mr Starmer has come under rising domestic and international pressure over recognising Palestinian statehood, as opposition intensifies to the ongoing war in Gaza amid fears of mass starvation there.

"We urge you to officially recognise the state of Palestine at the conference next week," the 221 British lawmakers wrote in the joint letter, referring to a July 28 to 29 UN conference co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia in New York.