Keir Starmer Is Set To Formally Recognise A Palestinian State. Here's Why That Matters

Keir Starmer is set to formally announce the UK’s recognition of a Palestinian state today.

Britain will then be joining France, Canada and Australia who will all acknowledge the State of Palestine officially at the United Nations’ General Assembly on Monday.

The state encompasses two separate territories, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, all of which are currently known as the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

It comes after Israel failed to meet the conditions the UK set out – taking “substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza”, reaching a ceasefire, ending the annexation in the West Bank and committing to a long-term two-state solution  – all of which Starmer said would lead him to drop his recognition plan plan.

Instead, Israel has continued with its violent offensive in Gaza, which has already killed more than 65,000 people in the enclave.

It also comes after a UN commission of inquiry concluded Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, although Israel said that was “distorted and false”.

While the decision has been welcomed by Palestinians, Israel is reportedly considering options in response to the UK’s decision.

Here’s what you need to know.

What does it mean to recognise Palestine as a state?

According to the Montevideo Convention of 1933, to be recognised as a state, Palestine needs to have a permanent population, a defined territory, an effective government and international relations and formal diplomatic processes.

But Starmer is yet to confirm where he believes those exact borders are or who will run the new state – two highly contentious issues.

Gaza is currently run by the Hamas militants, who initiated the October 7 attack on Israel in 2023, killed 1,200 people and took 250 people hostage.

Starmer has insisted he does not want them to be in power, but it remains unclear who will take over.

The UK has also indicated it wants to move towards a peace deal which would recognise Palestine based on the 1967 borders, but Israel has encroached on more Palestinian land in the decades since then.

Still, it is more of a symbolic move than anything else, as it legitimises Palestinians’ rights to hold onto their land in Gaza, annexed east Jerusalem and the West Bank.

It also undermines Israel’s ongoing push to remove Palestinians from the region, especially as the UK is an Israeli ally.

It’s a notable break from past UK foreign policy, as multiple governments have ruled that recognition should be part of the peace process and implemented at a time of maximum impact.

Labour now says it is a moral responsibility to show long-term peace is possible amid struggling efforts to secure a ceasefire.

Out of 193 United Nations member states, 147 already recognise Palestine as a state around the world, including more than a dozen in Europe.

But France, China and Russia are the only other permanent members of the UN Security Council to already take this diplomatic step.

How have Palestinians reacted?

Palestinians have been pushing to be an independent state ever since Israel’s occupation in the 1967 Six-Day war.

The Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister, Varsen Aghabekian, told Sky News that this move was “better later than never”.

“Britain, with its weight, can influence other countries to come forward and recognise, because this is the right thing to do,” she said.

She said Britain was taking a “courageous step at a very difficult time”.

But she added that she is “very angry” with the States for its “unwavering support for Israel” and that Israel’s decision not to pass on tax revenue was pushing Palestinian civil society to the brink of “collapse”.

She also said recognising Palestine was not a reward for Hamas, but “if we wait until Israel decides it wants to go into negotiations with the Palestinians then it won’t happen”.

Aghabekian added that Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority which governs the West Bank, has “given guarantees in letters to various leaders around the globe that said Hamas will not be part of the governance of the Gaza Strip”.

Yet she also revealed that it was “not reasonable” to try to completely erase Hamas, as it is an “ideology”.

What is Israel’s reaction?

Israel has refused to give into the UK’s demands, claiming it would reward the Hamas militants, who still hold 48 hostages – 20 of whom are thought to still be alive.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously said recognising Palestine would be “rewarding terror”.

Family members of those captives also wrote an open letter to Starmer on Saturday, urging him not to make the step until they are released.

They said this has “dramatically complicated efforts to bring home our loved ones. Hamas has already celebrated the UK’s decision as a victory and reneged on a ceasefire deal.”

What happens next?

This is a symbol more than anything else, so there is unlikely to be an immediate impact – but it does strengthen the Palestinian cause, especially as the UK is actually an Israeli ally.

The UK is also expected to declare new sanctions on Hamas later today.

However, Israel’s strongest ally, the US, seems unlikely to follow suit.

In the UK this week, Donald Trump told reporters that Palestinian recognition was one of the “few” areas he and Starmer disagree.

As long as the White House continues to offer its unwavering military support for Israel, it’s unclear how this declaration from the UK will alter the devastating situation on the ground in Gaza right now.