UK to recognize Palestinian state as Netanyahu considers annexing parts of Gaza

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Tuesday that his nation will recognize the state of Palestine at a United Nations meeting in September if Israel does not agree to a ceasefire in Gaza.

“Today, as part of this process towards peace, I can confirm the U.K. will recognize the state of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September, unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution,” Starmer said at a news conference.

“This includes allowing the U.N. to restart the supply of aid and making clear that there will be no annexations in the West Bank,” he continued.

Starmer also delivered a message to “the terrorists of Hamas,” saying that “they must immediately release all of the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, disarm, and accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza.”

The prime minister’s office also released a written statement echoing Starmer’s comments.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that it “rejects” Starmer’s statement.

“The shift in the British government’s position at this time, following the French move and internal political pressures, constitutes a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of hostages,” the ministry said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also reacted to Starmer’s statement, saying, “Starmer rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism & punishes its victims. A jihadist state on Israel’s border TODAY will threaten Britain TOMORROW. Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you too. It will not happen.”

French President Emmanuel Macron announced last week that France would officially recognize Palestine as a state when the U.N. meets in September, and also called for “an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and massive humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.”

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot on Tuesday applauded Starmer’s announcement.

“The United Kingdom joins today in the momentum created by France for the recognition of the State of Palestine. Together, through this pivotal decision and our combined efforts, we break the endless cycle of violence and reopen the prospect of peace in the region,” Barrot said.

At the time, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. “rejected” France’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state.

“This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace. It is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th,” Rubio wrote in a statement on X.

Starmer’s statement comes on the same day that two sources familiar with the matter told ABC News that Netanyahu is considering a plan to annex territories in Gaza.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu is considering a plan to annex territories in Gaza if Hamas doesn’t agree to a ceasefire plan. This is one of several options,” a source said.

The news comes less than a week after Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, said the U.S. was cutting ceasefire talks short and bringing its negotiation team home from Doha, Qatar.

In a post on X on July 24, Witkoff said Hamas “does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith.”

“While the mediators have made a great effort, Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith,” Witkoff wrote, in part. “We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza.”

Netanyahu echoed Witkoff’s statement, saying Israel was now “considering alternative options to bring our hostages home,” and blamed Hamas for the breakdown in negotiations.

“Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff got it right. Hamas is the obstacle to a hostage release deal,” Netanyahu said in a statement the day after Witkoff’s comments. “Together with our U.S. allies, we are now considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas’s terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region.

Officials have not yet elaborated on what are the “alternative options” to return the remaining hostages and end the war in Gaza.

In its own statement on Sunday, Hamas accused Witkoff and the Israelis of negotiating in bad faith and claimed there is no point in continuing negotiations in the current format.

“In the last round of negotiations, we achieved clear progress and largely agreed with what the mediators presented to us, especially regarding the issue of withdrawal, prisoners, and the entry of aid,” Hamas said, in part. ‘They conveyed to us positive responses from the Zionist occupation, but we were surprised to find that the occupation was withdrawing from the negotiations, and that the US President’s envoy to the Middle East, Witkoff, was in cahoots with it.”

“We clearly state: There is no point in continuing negotiations under the siege, extermination, and starvation of our children, women, and people in the Gaza Strip,” the statement continued.

The news also comes as the Israel-Hamas war reached a a grim milestone, with more than 60,000 Palestinians killed since Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

As of Tuesday, 60,034 people in Gaza have been killed and 145,870 people have been injured, the ministry said.

With an estimated population of 2.3 million people in Gaza at the beginning of the war, the figure, if accurate, means that about 9% of Palestinians in Gaza have been killed or injured since then, according to an ABC News tally.

The ministry clarified that the Palestinians whom they say have died due to hunger have not been classified as “killed” in the war, but “died” due to malnourishment.

At least 147 Palestinians, including 88 children, have died due to malnutrition as of Monday, according to the ministry.

Netanyahu has repeatedly denied that there is starvation occurring in Gaza and has denied that there is an official Israeli policy of starvation.

“There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza,” Netanyahu said in comments in Jerusalem Sunday, in part.

“We enabled humanitarian aid throughout the duration of the war to enter Gaza. Otherwise, there would be no Gazans,” Netanyahu further said. “And what is interdicting the supply of humanitarian aid is one force – Hamas. Again, the reverse of the truth. Hamas robs, steals this humanitarian aid and then accuses Israel of not supplying it.”

Israeli officials have long accused Hamas of stealing aid, which Hamas denies.

A USAID analysis appeared to undercut some of the assertions about the extent to which Hamas had allegedly stolen humanitarian aid. A presentation reviewed by ABC News, examining more than 150 reported incidents involving the theft or loss of U.S.-funded humanitarian aid in Gaza, showed that he group failed to find any evidence that Hamas engaged in widespread diversion of aid to cause this amount of hunger being seen in the strip.

Additionally, a new report on Tuesday from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a global initiative monitoring hunger, said that “the worst-case scenario of famine is playing out in the Gaza Strip,” and that “access to food and other essential items and services has plummeted to unprecedented levels.”

ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.