The governments of the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia announced Sunday that they will symbolically recognize a Palestinian state despite vociferous opposition from the United States and Israel.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday confirmed the widely anticipated announcement, saying the move is intended “to revive hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis.”
“Let’s be frank. Hamas is a brutal terror organization. Our call for a genuine two-state solution is the exact opposite of their hateful vision,” Starmer said Sunday. “So we are clear, this solution is not a reward for Hamas, because it means Hamas can have no future, no role in government, no role in security.”
It is a watershed moment for Palestinians and their decades-long ambitions for statehood.
“Canada recognizes 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 social media.
The prime minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, said in a statement that the announcement alongside those from the U.K. and Canada are part of a “co-ordinated international effort to build momentum for a two-state solution.”
“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 Palestinian people,” Albanese said in a statement.
Though the move is largely symbolic, it is a historic moment as the U.K. arguably laid the groundwork for the creation of the Israeli state when it was in control of what was then known as Palestine in 1917.
More than 140 countries have already taken that step and more are expected to do so at the U.N. General Assembly this week, including France.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We will have to fight both at the UN and in all other arenas against the false propaganda against us and the calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state that will endanger our existence and constitute an absurd reward for terrorism. The international community will hear from us on this matter in the coming days.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that France’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state is necessary to combat Hamas.
“The objective of Hamas is absolutely not to create a Palestinian state,” he said. “The objective of Hamas is to destroy Israel, to convince the maximum number of people that they have no chance to have peace and stability, and precisely a Palestinian state. And to kill the maximum number of Israeli people. And this is why, if we want to stop this war, if we want to isolate Hamas, the recognition process and the peace plan which goes with this recognition process is a precondition.”
The U.K.’s recognition of a Palestinian state comes just days after a state visit from U.S. President Trump, during which he voiced his disapproval of the plan.
“I have a disagreement with the prime minister on that score,” Mr. Trump said.
Critics, including the U.S. and the Israeli government, which has shown no interest in a two-state solution, have condemned the plans, saying it rewards Hamas for its attack on Oct. 7, 2023. As well as arguing that recognition is immoral, critics argue that it’s an empty gesture given that the Palestinian people are divided into two territories — the West Bank and Gaza — with no recognized international capital.
The war started on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in their attack on southern Israel. Forty-eight hostages remain in Gaza, with many released through ceasefires or other agreements. Israel believes about 20 are still alive, though the bodies of two hostages were recovered during a joint operation in late August.
The Palestinian head of mission in the U.K., Husam Zomlot, told CBS News partner the BBC that recognition would right a colonial-era wrong.
“The issue today is ending the denial of our existence that started 108 years ago, in 1917,” he said. “And I think today, the British people should celebrate a day when history is being corrected, when wrongs are being righted, when recognition of the wrongs of the past are beginning to be corrected.”
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