LONDON: Britain will formally recognize a Palestinian state this weekend, after US President Donald Trump, who opposes the decision, has left the country at the end of his state visit, the Times newspaper reported.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned in July that it would take the action unless Israel took steps to relieve suffering in Gaza and reached a ceasefire in its nearly two-year war with Hamas.
Israel says recognizing a Palestinian state, which France, Canada, and Australia have also said they will do this month, would reward Hamas.
The Times, without citing its sources, said Britain would make an announcement once Trump has completed his trip on Thursday. Britain’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In July, Trump, who is currently enjoying an unprecedented second state visit to Britain, said he did not mind if Britain made such a move, but since then the US has made clear its opposition to any such action by its European allies.
Starmer, who is under pressure from some in his Labour Party to take a harder line against Israel, had said Britain would recognize Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly next week unless Israel took substantive steps to alleviate the situation in Gaza.
Britain has long supported the policy of a “two-state solution” for ending the conflict in the region but previously said this could only come when the time was right.
Britain will recognize Palestinian state this weekend, Times reports
https://arab.news/zez3n
Britain will recognize Palestinian state this weekend, Times reports
- Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned in July that it would take the action unless Israel took steps to relieve suffering in Gaza
- Starmer is under pressure from some in his Labour Party to take a harder line against Israel
Changes to US security strategy ‘largely consistent’ with Russia’s vision: Kremlin
- Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the current US administration was “fundamentally different from the previous ones”
MOSCOW: Russia has welcomed changes in the US National Security Strategy, saying the adjustments that marked a radical departure from Washington’s previous policy were “largely consistent” with Moscow’s vision.
Washington’s new National Security Strategy, published early Friday, took aim at allies in Europe, calling it over-regulated, lacking in “self-confidence” and facing “civilizational erasure” due to immigration.
The document stated that the United States would also prevent other powers from dominating but added: “This does not mean wasting blood and treasure to curtail the influence of all the world’s great and middle powers.”
Commenting on the new US strategy, the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the current US administration was “fundamentally different from the previous ones.”
“The adjustments we’re seeing, I would say, are largely consistent with our vision,” Peskov said in an interview with state TV station Rossiya aired Sunday.
“President Trump is currently strong in terms of domestic political positions. And this gives him the opportunity to adjust the concept to suit his vision,” Peskov added.
The publication of the updated security strategy came as officials from Kyiv held talks in Florida with Trump’s envoys on the US-drafted plan to end the near four-year war in Ukraine.
Three days of talks produced no apparent breakthrough.
President Volodymyr Zelensky committed to further negotiations toward “real peace,” as Russia in the early hours of Saturday launched another series of drone and missile strikes at Ukraine.
Zelensky is due to meet with European leaders — French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz — in London on Monday to take stock of the negotiations.
