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• ‘Balfour architect’ UK, Canada and Australia extend formal recognition to State of Palestine
• France, Portugal, Malta among other nations expected to follow suit at United Nations summit today
• Israeli leaders livid; Palestinian official says move brings them closer to independence, sovereignty
LONDON: In a seismic shift in decades of Western foreign policy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia recognised Palestinian statehood, with Portugal also expected to follow suit.
Britain and Canada became the first G7 countries to take the step, with France, Malta and other nations likely to follow at the annual UN General Assembly, which opens in New York today.
Three-quarters of UN members already recognise Palestinian statehood, with over 140 of the 193 having taken the step.
“Today, to revive the hope of peace for the Palestinians and Israelis, and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognises the State of Palestine,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a message on X.
The UK government has come under increasing public pressure to act, with thousands rallying every month on the streets. A poll released by YouGov on Friday showed two-thirds of British people aged 18-25 supported Palestinian statehood.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy acknowledged at the UN in July that “Britain bears a special burden of responsibility to support the two-state solution”.
The UK was pivotal in laying the groundwork for the creation of the State of Israel through the 1917 Balfour Declaration.
Support for recognition
Similarly, Canadian PM Mark Carney said, “Canada recognises the State of Palestine and offers our partnership in building the promise of a peaceful future for both the State of Palestine and the State of Israel.”
Portugal also said that it would formally declare its recognition in New York on Sunday. “By acting now, as the Portuguese government has decided, we’re keeping alive the possibility of having two states,” Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said.
Malta’s Prime Minister Robert Abela has also announced that his country will formally recognise the state of Palestine in the coming days.
It is a watershed moment for Palestinians and their decades-long ambitions for statehood, with the most powerful Western nations having long argued it should only come as part of a negotiated peace deal with Israel.
But the move puts those countries at odds with the United States and Israel, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacting angrily and vowing to oppose it at the UN talks.
Calls for a Palestinian state “would endanger our existence and serve as absurd reward for terrorism”, Mr Netanyahu claimed.
Against the backdrop of widespread devastation in Gaza, a growing number of longtime allies have shifted positions, as Israel has intensified its Gaza offensive, vowing to eliminate Hamas.
Countries such as Britain say recognition of a Palestinian state is intended to put pressure on Israel to end its devastating assault on Gaza, curtail the building of new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and recommit to a peace process with the Palestinians. Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas said that Britain’s recognition of a Palestinian state was a peace in the region.
“His excellency praised the United Kingdom’s recognition of the independent State of Palestine, affirming that it constitutes an important and necessary step toward achieving a just and lasting peace in accordance with international legitimacy,” his office said in a statement.
Also, Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin said countries recognising a Palestinian state this week were taking an irreversible step that preserved the two-state solution and brought Palestinian independence and sovereignty closer.
“Now is the time. Tomorrow is a historic date we need to build on. It’s not the end,” Ms Shahin told reporters in Ramallah.
In a statement, Hamas called on the international community, the United Nations, and its institutions to isolate the rogue entity of Israel, cease all forms of cooperation and coordination with it, escalate punitive measures against it, and work to bring its leaders, war criminals, to international courts and hold them accountable for their crimes against humanity.
Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2025
