British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced the United Kingdom’s decision to formally recognize a Palestinian state more than 100 years after the Balfour Declaration backed “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people,” and 77 years after the creation of Israel in the British Mandate of Palestine.
“In the face of the growing horror in the Middle East, we are acting to keep alive the possibility of peace and of a two-state solution,” Starmer said in a video statement Sunday.
The UK government said in July that it would shift its longstanding approach of holding off recognition until a supposed moment of maximum impact.
The historic move comes as Canada, Australia, and Portugal also officially recognized Palestinian statehood two days before the start of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), where Palestinian sovereignty after decades of occupation and apartheid by Israel will be in focus.
Read more here.
