LONDON, SEPT 21 (AFP/APP): Britain and Portugal were on Sunday expected to recognise a Palestinian state, ahead of a key week at the UN’s gathering where a suite of nations are set to do the same to pressure Israel over Gaza.
A growing number of longtime Israeli allies have shifted positions in recent months as Israel has intensified its Gaza offensive, triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented 2023 attack.
The besieged Palestinian territory has suffered vast destruction, death and lack of food that have resulted in a major humanitarian crisis.
World leaders will gather for a key debate at the UN General Assembly in New York this week where the so-called two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be front and centre.
Around 10 nations are expected to recognise a Palestinian state in the coming days, with UK media outlets like the BBC, reporting that Prime Minister Keir Starmer would announce the policy shift on Sunday — over fierce Israeli objection.
Starmer had said in July that Britain would formally recognise the State of Palestine if Israel did not take “substantive steps” towards a ceasefire with Hamas by the time the UN General Assembly convened.
The Labour leader said at the time that the move would make “a contribution to a proper peace process, at the moment of maximum impact for the two-state solution”.
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused him of rewarding “monstrous terrorism” and appeasing “jihadist” ideology.
