The United Kingdom is ready to consider recognising the Palestine state as part of efforts to ensure a peace settlement in the region, said David Cameron, the country’s foreign secretary, on Monday, reported The Guardian.
Cameroon said the diplomatic move would pave the way for a two-state solution, which is currently being opposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The former prime minister said that the UK would start setting out what a Palestine state would look like and “what it would comprise, how it would work.”
“As that happens, we, with allies, will look at the issue of recognising a Palestinian state, including at the United Nations,” The Guardian quoted him as saying. “This could be one of the things that helps to make this process irreversible.”
He also urged Israel to allow more aid into the war-ravaged Gaza Strip as he said it was “ludicrous” that vital supplies from Britain and other counties were being sent back, reported BBC.
The war, which started after Palestinian militant group Hamas’ incursion into southern Israel, has continued for more than three months. Hamas had killed 1,200 people in the attack and taken over 200 people hostage, some of whom were released in a prisoner exchange last month.
Over 25,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 62,000 wounded in Israel’s relentless air and ground strikes in Gaza, resulting in a humanitarian crisis in the territory. Nearly 85% of the population has been displaced, aid agencies have said.
Last week, during a meeting in Jerusalem, Cameron asked Netanyahu to concede to the two-state solution in order to bring about peace for both Israelis and Palestinians, The Guardian report said.
Netanyahu has ignored such calls even from allies, including the United States, saying that any concession for a two-state solution would “endanger the state of Israel”.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the British Parliament last week that the country would consider recognising a Palestine state “when the time is right”.
Cameron is set to make his fourth visit to West Asia since he assumed office in November last week. The Houthi attacks in the Red Sea will form a major focus of the visit, the UK foreign office said.
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