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UK Rejects Criticism That Move to Recognize Palestinian State Rewards Hamas
Palestinian Hamas terrorists stand guard on the day of the handover of hostages held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack, as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Feb. 22, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
Britain rejected Israeli criticism on Wednesday that it was rewarding terrorist group Hamas by setting out plans to recognize a Palestinian state unless Israel took steps to improve the situation in Gaza and bring about peace.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s ultimatum, setting a September deadline, prompted an immediate rebuke from Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, who said it rewarded Hamas and punished the victims of the fighters’ 2023 attack that triggered the war. US President Donald Trump also said he did not think Hamas “should be rewarded” with recognition of Palestinian independence.
But British Transport Minister Heidi Alexander – designated by the government to respond to media questions on Wednesday – said: “This is not a reward for Hamas.”
“Hamas is a vile terrorist organization that has committed appalling atrocities. This is about the Palestinian people. It’s about those children that we see in Gaza who are starving to death,” Alexander said. “We’ve got to ratchet up pressure on the Israeli government to lift the restrictions to get aid back into Gaza.”
Starmer’s decision follows that of French President Emmanuel Macron, who announced last week that Paris would recognize Palestinian statehood in September, becoming the first major Western power to do so, because of the dire humanitarian conditions in the enclave.
Previously, Britain and France, like other Western powers, had been committed to Palestinian independence, but as a goal that would best be achieved only at the conclusion of negotiations with Israel. In a televised address on Tuesday, Starmer said it had become necessary to act because the prospect of such a two-state solution was now under threat.
Britain would make the move at the UN General Assembly in September unless Israel took substantive steps to allow more aid into Gaza, made clear it would not annex the West Bank, and committed itself to a long-term peace process that delivered a two-state solution, Starmer said.
The most immediate impact of Britain recognizing a Palestinian state may be an upgrading of diplomatic relations, according to one British government official.
UPGRADING RELATIONS
Britain now hosts a Palestinian mission in London which could be upgraded to an embassy, and Britain could eventually open an embassy in the West Bank, the official said.
Starmer’s move “will isolate Israel more and more, but it won’t change anything on the ground,” said Azriel Bermant, a senior researcher at the Institute of International Relations Prague.
Bronwen Maddox, chief executive of the Chatham House think-tank, said the move put Britain into the forefront of countries trying to negotiate a solution, but that Starmer may have “muddled things by using recognition as a threat to Israel, when it is a goal of British foreign policy.”
“He might have done better to use other threats, for example sanctions or arms controls against Israel for the immediate crisis in Gaza, to get Israel to change its behavior there,” she said.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews, Britain’s biggest Jewish advocacy group, raised concerns that similarly clear conditions had not been set out for Hamas, which is still holding 50 hostages it seized in its October 2023 attack.
Alexander, when asked whether recognition was conditional on the release of hostages, said that the government would review whether to go ahead with recognition in September and Britain had long said Hamas must release hostages.
The Muslim Council of Britain, the country’s largest Muslim umbrella organization, said that making recognition conditional contradicted the government’s stated position that statehood was the inalienable right of the Palestinian people.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.