LONDON: The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has urged the UK government to recognize a Palestinian state as pressure mounts from the ruling Labour Party on Prime Minister Keir Starmer ahead of a UN conference addressing the Palestinian question.
Khan said on Wednesday that the UK government should “immediately recognize Palestinian statehood” and asserted that there “can be no two-state solution if there is no viable state left to call Palestine.”
Senior Labour figures, including Wes Streeting, Shabana Mahmood, and Hilary Benn, have called on the UK government to bring forward its recognition of Palestine. The UK has consistently stated it would recognize Palestine in conjunction with allies “at the point of maximum impact.”
A rescheduled international conference will be held in New York from July 28-29, sponsored by Saudi Arabia and France, to gather support for the recognition of Palestinian statehood. The organizers postponed the gathering planned for June due to the sudden conflict between Israel and Iran that occurred in the same month.
Khan’s statement comes against the backdrop of starvation impacting the 2 million residents of the Gaza Strip amid ongoing Israeli attacks and aid restrictions. Khan said that “the absolutely harrowing scenes of suffering in Gaza are being made worse by the day, with no sign of the crisis abating.”
He added: “Starving children searching hopelessly for food in the rubble; family members shot dead by Israeli soldiers as they search for aid. In heartbreaking scenes, innocent lives are being torn apart before the eyes of the world.
“The international community — including our own government – must do far more to pressure the Israeli government to stop this horrific, senseless killing and let vital lifesaving aid in. Nothing justifies the actions of the Israeli government.
“The UK must immediately recognize Palestinian statehood. There can be no two-state solution if there is no viable state left to call Palestine.”
Khan’s remarks echoed a rare intervention on foreign policy by Streeting, the health minister, during a parliamentary session on Tuesday.
Streeting said: “I sincerely hope that the international community can come together, as the foreign secretary has been driving towards, to make sure that we see an end of this war, but also that we recognize the state of Palestine while there is a state of Palestine left to recognize.”
