UK backs future Palestinian statehood but says ceasefire top priority

Britain supports eventual recognition of a Palestinian state, but the immediate priority should be alleviating the suffering in Gaza and securing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a British cabinet minister said on Friday.

Successive British governments have said they would formally recognise a Palestinian state at the right time, without ever setting a timetable or specifying the conditions for it to happen.

"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," British science and technology minister Peter Kyle 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."

His comments came after French President Emmanuel Macron said France intends to recognise a Palestinian state in September at the UN General Assembly, a plan that drew strong condemnation from Israel and the United States.

In a statement on Thursday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said statehood was the "inalienable right of the Palestinian people", reiterating his call for a ceasefire as a necessary step towards achieving a two-state solution.

Speaking during a visit to Australia, foreign minister David Lammy echoed Starmer's ceasefire call and described the situation in Gaza as "indefensible".

Gaza health authorities say more than 100 people have died from starvation, most of them in recent weeks.

Human rights groups have said mass starvation is spreading even as tonnes of food and other supplies sit untouched just outside the enclave.

Reuters