Palestinians are tentatively welcoming a “huge step” forward for peace after Sir Keir Starmer announced the UK’s formal recognition of the state of Palestine on Sunday – but say the government needs to go further.
A diplomatic row between Israel and the UK is set to deepen after the prime minister announced the historic step on Sunday, to “revive the hope of peace and a two-state solution”.
As the Israeli foreign ministry condemned the move, saying it rewards Hamas, and Washington makes known its disapproval, Palestinians are welcoming the historic step.
But some say it has come far later than it should have, following decades of repressive occupation in the Palestinian territories and nearly two years of an Israeli military campaign in Gaza, which a UN inquiry has now denounced as genocide.
Here, The Independent speaks to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza about a historic day for both Britain and the Palestinian people.
After years of calling for their own recognition in the eyes of countries around the world, Palestinians are unequivocal about the importance of their statehood being recognised by the UK.
Australia and Canada also took the historic step today, with France and Portugal among the other countries also set to do so this month.
Dr Ahmed al-Farra is the head of paediatrics at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, one of the few remaining hospitals that still function in the strip.
He hailed the “crucial step forward” which he said shows “drastic changes in the British understanding of the Palestinian cause”.
But it must be noted, he added, that the decision has come after the British government has continued to export weapons to Israel that he says have been used to “kill Gazans”.
The move must signal an “increase in British support for the Palestinian cause”, Dr Farra said, before he issued a personal invite for Sir Keir to visit Nasser hospital to “see how horrible the medical situation is”.
Mohammad Hesham Huraini, a 22-year-old from Masafer Yatta in Israeli-controlled Area C of the West Bank, where settler attacks and unlawful home demolitions are near-daily occurrences, said it is a “very important step, and it’s a really huge one”.
“Every Palestinian is happy to see it, but at the same time, we actually need more than just recognising Palestine. We have the right to be recognised as humans in general. We want to stop the genocide in Gaza and to end the occupation,” he added.
Samed Wajjeh is a 32-year-old from Khan Younis, who now lives in a tent outside the Nasser Medical Complex.
