Other nations, including France, expected to follow suit this week at UNGA Hamas welcomes step, Israel slams move Netanyahu says a Palestinian state will not be established Abbas says recognition a step for ‘lasting peace’ Hamas official says move a ‘victory for Palestinian rights’.
LONDON/TORONTO – Britain, Canada and Australia all recognised a Palestinian state on Sunday in a move borne out of frustration over the Gaza war and intended to promote a two-state solution, prompting a furious response from Israel.
The decision by three major Western nations, which have been traditional allies of Israel, aligned them with about 140 other countries also backing Palestinians’ aspiration to forge an independent homeland from the Israeli-occupied territories.
Britain’s decision carried particular symbolism given its major role in Israel’s creation as a modern nation in the aftermath of World War Two.
“Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine,” said Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “The man-made humanitarian crisis in Gaza reaches new depths. The Israeli government’s relentless and increasing bombardment of Gaza, the offensive of recent weeks, the starvation and devastation are utterly intolerable.”
Britain and Canada became the first G7 countries to take the step, with France and other nations expected to follow at the annual UN General Assembly, which opens Monday in New York. “Canada recognises the State of Palestine and offers our partnership in building the promise of a peaceful future for both the State of Palestine and the State of Israel,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote on X. Meanwhile, Australia announced it “formally recognises the independent and sovereign State of Palestine”, according to a post on X by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
“In doing so, Australia recognises the legitimate and long-held aspirations of the people of Palestine to a state of their own,” Albanese said in a statement as his country joined other major Western nations in increasing pressure on Israel to end the conflict in Gaza.
“Today’s act of recognition reflects Australia’s longstanding commitment to a two-state solution, which has always been the only path to enduring peace and security for the Israeli and the Palestinian peoples.”
Other nations, including France, are expected to follow suit this week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the move.
“I have a clear message to those leaders who recognise a Palestinian state after the horrific massacre of October 7: You are giving a huge reward to terrorism,” he said, referring to Palestinian militant group Hamas’ 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the nearly two-year war in Gaza.
“And I have another message for you: It will not happen. A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River.”
The Hamas-led attack on Israel killed 1,200 people and saw 251 others taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s ensuing campaign in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to local health authorities, spread famine, demolished most buildings and displaced most of the population – often multiple times.
“It is a human duty of every respectful and free human being in the world to support Palestinians during the ordeal they are going through and Britain’s role now comes within this,” said Sharaf Al Tarda, a Palestinian resident of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Hamas welcomed the move but said it must be accompanied by “practical measures” to end the war in Gaza and prevent Israel from annexing the West Bank.
A senior Hamas official hailed the three nations’ recognition of a Palestinian state, describing it as a victory for the rights of Palestinians.
“These developments represent a victory for Palestinian rights and the justice of our cause, and send a clear message: no matter how far the occupation goes in its crimes, it will never be able to erase our national rights,” Mahmud Mardawi told AFP.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said recognition would help pave the way for the “State of Palestine to live side by side with the State of Israel in security, peace, and good neighbourliness”.
Starmer wrote to Abbas to confirm Britain’s decision, noting that London had backed a Jewish homeland in 1917 while also pledging to protect the rights of non-Jewish communities.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said that Britain, Canada and Australia’s recognition of a Palestinian state was a necessary step toward lasting peace in the region.
Welcoming the move by the three countries, Abbas said, “It constitutes an important and necessary step toward achieving a just and lasting peace in accordance with international legitimacy,” according to a statement by his office.
Abbas also called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“He emphasised that today’s priorities are achieving a ceasefire, allowing humanitarian aid to enter, securing the release of all hostages and prisoners, ensuring Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, enabling the State of Palestine to assume full responsibilities, advancing recovery and reconstruction and halting settlement activity and settler violence, “the statement added.
Western governments have been under pressure from many in their parties and populations angry at the ever-rising death toll in Gaza, images of starving children and their states’ inability to rein in Israel, even continuing to provide arms.
Londoners voiced mixed reactions on Sunday.
“A whole lot needs to happen and peace needs to come to that region,” said 56-year-old charity director Michael Angus. “This is the first step in actually acknowledging that those people have a right to have somewhere to call home.”
Announcing his country’s decision, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said it would empower those seeking peaceful co-existence and the end of Hamas. “This in no way legitimises terrorism, nor is it any reward for it,” he added.
The United States, Israel’s closest ally, did not comment immediately on the decision by three of its allies to recognise a Palestinian state, but President Donald Trump has previously made clear he opposes such a move.
Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he would propose that the cabinet apply sovereignty in another Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory, the West Bank. That would represent de facto annexation of land seized in a 1967 war.
British troops captured Jerusalem from the Ottoman Empire in 1917, and in 1922 the League of Nations awarded Britain an international mandate to administer Palestine during the post-war deal-making that redrew the map of the Middle East.
Mandy Damari, the British mother of released British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari, told wire service on Sunday that Starmer was “under a two-state delusion” given that the Gaza Strip’s government was still Hamas whose mission was to destroy Israel.
Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK, watched on his phone as Starmer announced Britain’s recognition of a Palestinian state.
At the London headquarters of the mission, which may now be upgraded to an embassy, there were smiles and embraces.
“Today is a moment when the UK Prime Minister and the British government, on behalf of their people, stand and say: ‘We must correct history, we must right the wrongs’,” Zomlot said.
