Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, who served as foreign secretary until earlier this month, announced that Prime Minister Keir Starmer will make a statement on the recognition of a Palestinian state later on Sunday.

“Any decision to recognise a Palestinian state, if that were to take place later on today, does not make a Palestinian state happen overnight,” Lammy told Sky News. He indicated that recognition would help keep the prospect of a two-state solution alive and emphasized that associating the Palestinian people with Hamas is mistaken.

In July, following intense pressure within his governing Labour Party, Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that the UK would recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza, allowed the UN to bring in aid, and took other steps toward lasting peace.

This anticipated move comes ahead of the UN General Assembly this week, where several other nations, including Australia, Canada, and France, are also preparing to recognise a Palestinian state.

The UK’s recognition follows closely after a state visit from US President Donald Trump, who expressed his disapproval of the plan. “I have a disagreement with the prime minister on that score,” Trump said. “It’s one of our few disagreements, actually.”

Critics, including the US and the Israeli government—which has shown no interest in a two-state solution—have condemned the plans, arguing that it rewards Hamas and terrorism.

Starmer has made it clear that Hamas will have no role in the future governance of the Palestinian people and insisted that the group must release the Israeli hostages it still holds from the attacks on October 7, 2023.

More than 140 countries have already recognised a Palestinian state, but the decisions by France and Britain are particularly significant, as both nations are members of the Group of Seven and the UN Security Council.

Historically, the UK and France have played major roles in Middle Eastern politics over the past century. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, they carved up the region, with the UK becoming the governing power of what was then Palestine.

The UK was also the author of the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which supported the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people.” However, the declaration’s second part—which stipulated that “nothing shall be done… which may prejudice the civil and religious rights” of the Palestinian people—has largely been neglected over the decades.

David Lammy, who will represent the UK at the UN this week, stated in July that this aspect of the declaration had not been upheld and described it as “a historical injustice which continues to unfold.”

For decades, the UK has supported an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel but insisted that recognition must be part of a peace plan aimed at achieving a two-state solution.

However, UK officials are increasingly concerned that such a solution is becoming nearly impossible, not only because of the destruction and displacement in Gaza after nearly two years of conflict, but also due to Israel’s government aggressively expanding settlements in the West Bank—territory Palestinians seek for their future state.

Much of the international community regards Israel’s occupation of the West Bank as illegal.

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