By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
JERUSALEM//LONDON (Worthy News) – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Tuesday that Britain would formally recognize a Palestinian state by September, if Israel does not stop its war against Hamas in Gaza in a move that was due to anger Israeli politicians.
Starmer stressed that Britain would make the move through the United Nations General Assembly in September if Israel doesn’t “take substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza,” including agreeing to a ceasefire.
He added that the Jewish nation should also commit to a pathway to peace that revives the prospect of a two-state solution and clearly states that there will be no annexations in the West Bank, also known as Judaea and Samaria.
“Now is the moment to act,” Starmer said. “We see starving babies, children too weak to stand, images that will stay with us for a lifetime. The suffering must end.”
His announcement came shortly after France became the first Group of Seven (G7) nation to announce it would move towards recognizing a Palestinian state
French President Macron said the formal announcement would be made at the September session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
REWARDING TERROR?
“The urgent need today is for the war in Gaza to end and for the civilian population to be rescued. Peace is possible,” Macron stressed.
“We need an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and massive humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza,” he announced last week.
Palestinian officials welcomed Macron’s decision, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move “rewards terror” following Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack in Israel.
At least 1,200 people were killed in the attack, while some 251 people were kidnapped.
The attack sparked a war in Gaza that Hamas-run authorities say has killed more 60,000 people. Those figures have been difficult to verify independently.
Israel maintains that roughly half of those killed were Hamas operatives.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
In a decision that could reshape federal identification standards, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Trump administration to enforce its policy requiring Americans to list their biological sex–male or female–on passports, rather than self-identified gender.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R–S.D.) told Republican senators Thursday to prepare for a critical Friday vote aimed at ending the nation’s longest-ever government shutdown — now in its sixth week — as lawmakers scramble to reach a deal amid growing economic strain and partisan stalemate.
The Senate on Thursday narrowly rejected a Democratic resolution that would have required President Donald Trump to seek congressional approval before taking military action against Venezuela, marking the second failed attempt in as many months to rein in the administration’s campaign targeting Venezuelan drug-trafficking vessels.
Kazakhstan has officially joined the Abraham Accords, becoming the first country to do so during U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, the White House confirmed Thursday evening.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday carried out a sweeping wave of airstrikes targeting Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force and its terror infrastructure across southern Lebanon, marking one of the largest military operations since the November 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested 1,505 criminal foreign nationals in the Houston area during a roughly 10-day operation ending Oct.31.
Growing outrage over Amsterdam’s Royal Concert Hall (Het Koninklijk Concertgebouw) decision to cancel a Hanukkah concert featuring Jewish-Israeli cantor Shai Abramson has prompted an open letter from the heirs of Holocaust survivor and musician Lex van Weren, urging sponsors to withdraw support until the venue reverses course.