Overview

• Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned the UK will formally recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September unless Israel ends military operations in Gaza, agrees to a ceasefire, halts West Bank annexation and allows UN humanitarian access.
• French President Emmanuel Macron has committed France to unconditional recognition at the same UN meeting, positioning the United States as the only permanent Security Council member withholding Palestinian statehood if both European powers follow through.
• President Trump publicly rejected Prime Minister Netanyahu’s claim that there is no starvation in Gaza, cited reports of daily hunger-related deaths and backed stepped-up aid deliveries by land and air.
• Israel’s UN ambassador and Prime Minister Netanyahu condemned the UK and French recognition plans as rewarding terrorism and insisted that Hamas remains the principal obstacle to a lasting ceasefire and the release of hostages.
• These diplomatic shifts reflect mounting frustration over Gaza’s humanitarian crisis and seek to compel Israel back into two-state negotiations.