LONDON

The British prime minister has been under pressure from some senior members of the government to immediately recognize the Palestinian state, according to press reports.

Some senior Cabinet members are disappointed that Keir Starmer has so far failed to deliver on his promise to support the establishment of a Palestinian state, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing sources close to matter.

According to the report, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy recently urged Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy to act quickly on the matter.

The news followed a landmark move by French President Emmanuel Macron, who had been seeking to persuade Starmer to jointly recognize Palestine, announcing Thursday that France will recognize Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly in September.

Earlier Thursday, Starmer described the escalating crisis in Gaza as "unspeakable and indefensible," as at least 113 Palestinians have died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza since October 2023, according to the Palestine’s Health Ministry.

Along with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Macron and Starmer are expected to hold a phone call on Friday.

Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee recently also called on the government to immediately recognize statehood “boldly and bravely" in its preparations with allies for a two-state solution.

Emily Thornberry, the committee chair, said in a statement that there is "huge frustration among many of the British public that the government has consistently acted too little, too late."

Over 100 MPs demanding government recognize Palestine as state

In another sign of pressure on the premier, some 125 lawmakers on Friday signed a cross-party letter calling on Starmer to recognize Palestinian statehood.

Launched by Sarah Champion, Labour Party MP and chair of the International Development Committee, the letter said British recognition of Palestine would be "particularly powerful" given its role as the author of the Balfour Declaration – the 1917 document many say the current crisis is rooted in – and the former Mandatory Power in Palestine.

It added: "Since 1980, we have backed a two-state solution. Such a recognition would give that position substance as well as living up to a historic responsibility we have to the people under that Mandate."

Separately, Peter Kyle, the science and technology minister, said that the UK backs eventual recognition of a Palestinian state, but that the more immediate priority today is easing the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.

"We want Palestinian statehood, we desire it, and we want to make sure the circumstances can exist where that kind of long-term political solution can have the space to evolve," he told Sky News.

"But right now, today, we've got to focus on what will ease the suffering, and it is extreme, unwarranted suffering in Gaza that has to be the priority for us today."

Nine more Palestinians have died in past 24 hours due to famine, malnutrition, bringing the total number of starvation-related deaths to 122, the Gaza Health Ministry said Friday.

Israel has killed more than 59,500 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, collapsed the health system, and led to severe food shortages.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.