Sir Keir Starmer could recognise a Palestinian state with Hamas still in power, Downing Street suggested today.
The Prime Minister last week announced Britain would recognise Palestinian statehood in September, ahead of the UN General Assembly.
This is unless Israel meets certain conditions, such as allowing more aid into Gaza, ending the annexation of land in the West Bank, agreeing to a ceasefire, and signing up to a long-term peace process.
But Sir Keir has continued to face questions over whether he will push ahead with recognition of a Palestinian state while Hamas remain in power, or while the militants still hold hostages.
No10 refused to be drawn on either issue on Monday, which came as the PM faced a fresh backlash after Hamas praised his move on Palestinian statehood.
Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas member, was reported to have claimed the ‘fruits’ of October 7 – when the terror group launched its brutal attacks on Israel – had caused the world to ‘open its eyes to the Palestinian issue’.
Mike Tapp, the Labour MP for Dover and Deal, told The Times that Hamas’s claim of vindication ‘demonstrates why there is such fear in the Jewish community’.
‘The Government must urgently make clear that UK recognition of a Palestinian state can only happen after the genocidal terrorists of Hamas release the hostages and lay down their arms,’ he added.
Noam Sagi, a London-based psychotherapist whose mother Ada Sagi, 75, was taken hostage on October 7, said the PM should urgently rewrite the conditions of statehood.
He said: ‘This announcement tells Hamas and every terrorist group on earth that mass murder works – that slaughter and kidnapping is rewarded. Britain should lead with moral courage, not appease evil.’
Asked on Monday whether recognising a Palestinian state without a ceasefire could embolden Hamas to hold onto Israeli captives, Sir Keir’s official spokesman said the Government would assess the situation in September.
‘The PM has been absolutely clear that, on October 7, Hamas perpetrated the worst massacre in Israel’s history,’ he said.
‘Every day since then that horror has continued… as the Foreign Secretary (David Lammy) said over the weekend, Hamas are rightly pariahs who can have no role in Gaza’s future.’
Asked whether a Palestinian state could be recognised while Hamas are still holding hostages, the PM’s spokesman said that ‘we’ll make an assessment ahead of the UN General Assembly on how far the parties have met the steps that we’ve set out’.
‘We’ve been very clear that Hamas can have no role in the future governments of Gaza… We’ve also been clear that they must disarm, must release all the hostages,’ he added.
On whether the step could be taken while Hamas remain in power, the spokesman said the Government was clear that ‘Hamas are not the Palestinian people’.
‘It is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to have recognition along the lines and the steps that we’ve previously set out,’ he said.
‘We’ve also been very clear it cannot be in the hands of Hamas, a terrorist group, to have a veto over recognition of Palestine.’
Videos released by militant groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad last week appeared to show Israeli hostages in a visibly fragile state.
No10 condemned the images as ‘completely abhorrent’.
Mr Hamad reportedly told the Al Jazeera news outlet: ‘The initiative by several countries to recognise a Palestinian state is one of the fruits of October 7.’
About 1,200 people were killed by Hamas militants in the 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war and another 251 were abducted.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 60,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
