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The United Kingdom, Canada and Australia on Sunday announced the recognition of the Palestinian state, in the hope that a two-state solution will bring peace with Israel despite protests from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the move is intended “to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis.”
“We recognized the state of Israel more than 75 years ago as a homeland for the Jewish people,” Starmer said in a video message posted on X. “Today we join over 150 countries who recognize a Palestinian state also. A pledge to the Palestinian and Israeli people that there can be a better future.”
He insisted that the recognition of statehood was not a reward for Hamas, the terror group that carried out the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that led to some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, being killed and the abduction of another 251. Hamas is the current Palestinian governing body in the Gaza Strip.
More than 145 countries already recognize a Palestinian state, including more than a dozen in Europe.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government rejects a two-state solution given the current geopolitical situation in the region, with Netanyahu saying that the countries declaring their recognition of Palestine “are rewarding terror with an enormous prize.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the opening event of the bipartisan delegation of American legislators to Israel in Jerusalem, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (Debbie Hill/Pool Photo via AP)
“It will not happen,” Netanyahu said after the countries made their announcements. “A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River.”
Netanyahu said he would announce Israel’s response after a trip next week to the U.S., where he is to meet President Donald Trump at the White House.
Trump voiced his disapproval of the move by the U.K., Canada and Australia during a visit to Britain last week.
Forty-eight hostages remain in Gaza, with fewer than half believed to still be alive. Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 others.
