Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron told the Conservative Middle East Council that the U.K. is considering recognizing Palestine as a state.
“We should be starting to set out what a Palestinian state would look like – what it would comprise, how it would work,” he said, according to Politico. He added, “As that happens, we, with allies, will look at the issue of recognizing a Palestinian state, including at the United Nations. This could be one of the things that helps to make this process irreversible.”
Cameron’s words have been met with backlash.
Theresa Villiers, a Member of Parliament (MP) for Chipping Barnet, said a two-state solution would “reward Hamas’ atrocities.”
Similarly, politician Sir Michael Ellis said the effort would give “dangerous actors” the “trimmings and capabilities of a state,” according to Sky News.
MP Greg Smith noted that the “only political objective in Gaza is inextricably linked to the security objectives in Gaza, because the grim reality is that Hamas does not seek a ceasefire and Israel cannot be reasonably expected to pursue one with a group that actively seeks its destruction,” the outlet reported.
Foreign Office Minister Andrew Mitchell claimed that the U.K.’s policy on the matter has not changed, The Irish News explained.
“There is no question of rewarding Hamas for the appalling acts they perpetrated in a pogrom on October 7,” Mitchell said. “But the point the Foreign Secretary has been making is that we must give the people of the West Bank and Gaza a credible route to a Palestine state and a new future, but we must do so when the time is right.”
He added, “The British Government has always made it clear we intend to recognise a Palestinian state when the timing is right.”
“He will have seen the comments of the Foreign Secretary last night, which in no way deviate from that policy, but the Foreign Secretary is pointing out how important it is to ensure that people can see that when a political track gets going, real progress can be made.”
