Britain, Canada and Australia confirmed on Sunday that they now formally recognize Palestinian statehood, piling pressure on Israel to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and putting three major allies at odds with the Trump administration.
The coordinated statements came on the eve of the annual gathering of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Later Sunday, Portugal also confirmed its recognition of Palestine.
France, which first announced its intention to do so in July, has pledged to vote for recognition of a Palestinian state at the U.N. this week, joining some 150 members of the body who have already done so.
The concerted action, across three continents, will deepen the diplomatic isolation of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. But so far, moves to recognize a Palestinian state have not curbed Israel’s military campaign against Hamas, which has killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza and left much of the enclave in ruins.
Nor are they likely to alter the situation on the ground. While recognition is a symbolic act of support for Palestinian self-determination, the prospect of a viable Palestinian state — on territory now occupied or blockaded by the Israeli military — is in many ways more elusive than it has been in decades.
“The hope for a two-state solution is fading, but we cannot let that light go out,” Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, said in a video statement. “Today, to revive the hope of peace and a two-state solution, I state clearly as prime minister of this great country that the United Kingdom formally recognizes the State of Palestine.”
Canada and Australia confirmed their decisions in statements released just before Mr. Starmer’s. Portugal’s foreign minister, Paulo Rangel, announced the country’s decision on Sunday afternoon from New York, saying a two-state solution was the “only path to a just and lasting peace.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada accused the Israeli government of “working methodically to prevent the prospect of a Palestinian state from ever being established.” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia said a two-state solution has “always been the only path to enduring peace and security for the Israeli and the Palestinian peoples.”
The flurry of announcements drew praise from Palestinian leaders and condemnation from Israel’s government.
“I have a clear message to those leaders who recognize a Palestinian state after the terrible massacre on Oct. 7: You are giving a huge reward to terrorism,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a video statement on Sunday. “And I have another message for you: It will not happen. A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River.”
The Palestinian Authority said its president, Mahmoud Abbas, welcomed Mr. Starmer’s announcement as “an important and necessary step toward achieving a just and lasting peace.”
Mr. Starmer waited to act until after President Trump’s state visit to Britain last week, during which Mr. Trump said he disagreed with the move, preferring to focus on securing the release of the hostages held by Hamas militants.
When Mr. Starmer first announced Britain’s plans in late July, he said a final decision would hinge on multiple conditions. Israel, he said, must address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, sign on to a cease-fire agreement with Hamas to secure the release of hostages, and pursue long-term peace with the Palestinians based on a two-state solution.
Since then, Israel has attacked Hamas leaders in Qatar, the Persian Gulf state that was the site of cease-fire negotiations, making any agreement more unlikely than ever. Far from scaling back, Israeli troops have expanded their combat operations, advancing on Gaza’s main urban center, Gaza City.
In his video, Mr. Starmer condemned “Israel’s relentless and increasing bombardment of Gaza,” declaring that the “starvation and devastation are utterly intolerable.” But he also condemned Hamas as a “brutal terror organization.”
“This solution is not a reward for Hamas,” he said, “because it means Hamas can have no future, no role in government, no role in security.”
Husam Badran, a senior leader in Hamas, called Mr. Starmer’s announcement “a step in the right direction, even if it came late.” But in a text message to The New York Times, he rejected the British demands that Hamas have no political role in a future Palestinian state.
For Mr. Starmer, who worked as a human-rights lawyer before entering politics, the decision has been an anguished balancing act. He has tried to avoid daylight between Britain and the United States on issues like trade and the war in Ukraine. But Gaza poses profound moral and political challenges.
Standing alongside Mr. Trump last week, Mr. Starmer put the move in the context of other steps, including pushing for the release of hostages and reviving negotiations for the creation of a Palestinian state. Recognition, he said, was “part of the overall package, which hopefully takes us from the appalling situation we’re in now.”
When a reporter from Fox News accused him of waiting for Mr. Trump to leave Britain before announcing the decision, Mr. Starmer responded with an impassioned denunciation of Hamas, which got him an approving tap on the shoulder from Mr. Trump, who said, “That’s good.”
Mr. Starmer noted that members of his extended family lived in Israel (his British-born wife, Victoria, is Jewish). “I understand, firsthand, the psychological impact” of the Hamas attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers in October 2023, he said. “So, I know exactly where I stand in relation to Hamas.”
Domestic politics also played a part in Mr. Starmer’s decision. Pressure to do more has swelled within his Labour Party, as well as in the broader public, as harrowing images and videos of suffering Palestinians have been broadcast online and in the news media.
“The U.K. government will hope that this buys them an extended period of quiet without having to take further moves,” said Daniel Levy, who runs the U.S./Middle East Project, a research institute in London and New York. “But if Israel’s actions continue to be as egregious, aggressive and criminal as is currently the case, then that is highly unlikely to play out.”
“The U.K., along with others, will be under the spotlight of ‘What has recognition changed?’” added Mr. Levy, who once worked as a peace negotiator for Israel. “The answer will be nothing, and pressure will again intensify to take more consequential measures.”
He and other critics fault Britain’s government for not having done more already. It has stopped short of accusing Israel of genocide, despite calls to do so by Labour members of Parliament and legal experts. And while it has suspended some weapons sales to Israel, it continues to supply parts for F-35 fighter jets, used by the Israeli Air Force in strikes on Gaza.
The British government issued sanctions on two far-right ministers in Mr. Netanyahu’s cabinet: Itamar Ben-Gvir, the security minister, and Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister. Downing Street also signaled that it could arrest Mr. Netanyahu if he entered Britain, pledging to fulfill its “legal obligations as set out by domestic law and indeed international law.” The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him last November.
Britain’s latest action has further soured relations with Israel. Mr. Netanyahu warned that it might backfire on those who seek a Palestinian state, vowing that Israel would redouble its construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
“For years,” Mr. Netanyahu said, “I have prevented the establishment of this terrorist state in the face of enormous pressure both at home and abroad.”
Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting from Jerusalem, and Ephrat Livni from New York.
Mark Landler is the London bureau chief of The Times, covering the United Kingdom, as well as American foreign policy in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He has been a journalist for more than three decades.
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