UK warns Israel to not retaliate in opposition to Palestinian statehood push

[ad_1] Watch: BBC speaks to Overseas Secretary Yvette Cooper about Britain's recognition of Palestinian statehood

Overseas Secretary Yvette Cooper says she has warned Israel to not annex elements of the West Financial institution in retaliation for the UK's recognition of Palestinian statehood.

Cooper was talking to the BBC earlier than attending a convention on Monday on the UN in New York the place France and different European states are resulting from make the same announcement.

In what was a major change in coverage, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer introduced the UK's recognition of a Palestinian state on Sunday, together with Canada, Australia and Portugal.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the strikes, saying they provide "an enormous reward to terrorism".

Requested by the BBC if she was involved Israel would take this declaration as a pretext for annexing elements of the West Financial institution, Cooper stated she had made it clear to her Israeli counterpart that he and his authorities should not do this.

She stated: "We have now been clear that this determination that we're taking is about one of the best ways to respect the safety for Israel in addition to the safety for Palestinians.

"It is about defending peace and justice and crucially safety for the Center East and we are going to proceed to work with everybody throughout the area so as to have the ability to do this."

Cooper stated extremists on each side have been looking for to desert any prospect of a two-state answer, which the UK had an ethical obligation to revive.

"The straightforward factor to do could be to simply stroll away and to say effectively it's all simply too onerous," Cooper stated. "We simply suppose that's fallacious after we've seen such devastation, such struggling.

"Simply as we recognise Israel, the state of Israel ... so we should additionally recognise the rights for the Palestinians to a state of their very own as effectively."

She didn't say when the UK's Consulate Normal in East Jerusalem would grow to be a full embassy, saying it will proceed whereas a diplomatic course of started with the Palestinian Authority.

The overseas secretary was talking in New York, the place the UN Normal Meeting is convening this week.

Cooper will push to construct worldwide consensus on a framework for peace within the Center East, the Overseas Workplace has stated.

France will co-chair a gathering alongside Saudi Arabia addressing the trail to a two-state answer to the battle, after it pledged to recognise Palestinian statehood in July. Belgium can also be anticipated to observe France's declaration on the assembly.

Making the announcement on Sunday, Sir Keir stated he wished to "revive the hope of peace and a two-state answer".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by saying that Palestinian statehood "won't occur".

The US joined him in describing the transfer as a diplomatic present to Hamas after it attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 individuals and taking 251 hostage.

Sir Keir pressured this was not the case because the phrases of the popularity imply Hamas can have "no future, no function in authorities, no function in safety".

This message was echoed in an announcement from the Overseas Workplace, which stated the overseas secretary would use the UN assembly to "guarantee violent terrorists like Hamas don't have any function to play in the way forward for a Palestinian state".

The prime minister added that the choice was as an alternative a "pledge to the Palestinian and Israeli people who there is usually a higher future", saying the "hunger and devastation [in Gaza] are totally insupportable".

Sir Keir, who has repeatedly stated Hamas can don't have any function sooner or later governance of a Palestinian state, stated throughout his announcement that the UK had already proscribed and sanctioned Hamas and that he had directed work to sanction additional Hamas figures within the coming weeks.

Hamas on Sunday welcomed the popularity as an "necessary step in affirming the appropriate of our Palestinian individuals to their land and holy websites" however stated it should be accompanied by "sensible measures" that may result in an "speedy finish" to the battle.

Talking on BBC Breakfast, the Conservatives' deputy chair Matt Vickers stated that the prime minister was "rewarding Hamas".

"Hamas has already stated it is a victory for them and the evil issues they did on October 7", he stated.

"This isn't the way in which you play the sport, this not what you do if you wish to get a two state answer. Everyone seems to be devastated by what they see in Gaza, everyone seems to be devastated by what they noticed on 7 October. We have to work with the US to verify these hostages come dwelling."

Final week, a UN fee of inquiry stated that Israel had dedicated genocide in Gaza.

Throughout a three-page decision, the Worldwide Affiliation of Genocide Students (IAGS) introduced a litany of actions undertaken by Israel all through the 22-month-long battle that it recognises as constituting genocide, battle crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity.

Round 65,000 individuals have been killed in Israeli assaults in Gaza within the almost two-year battle.

UN-backed well being consultants have additionally declared a famine in Gaza Metropolis.

The Israeli Overseas Ministry stated the genocide report was primarily based on "Hamas lies" and poor analysis, calling it an "embarrassment to the authorized career".

Netanyahu has repeatedly denied hunger is going down in Gaza and has stated that the place there may be starvation, it's the fault of support companies and Hamas.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the UK's determination, saying it will assist pave the way in which for the "state of Palestine to reside facet by facet with the state of Israel in safety, peace and good neighbourliness".

Palestine is presently recognised as a state by round 75% of the UN's 193 member states, however has no internationally agreed boundaries, capital or military - making recognition largely symbolic.

The 2-state answer refers back to the creation of a Palestinian state within the West Financial institution and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital, broadly alongside the traces that existed previous to the 1967 Arab-Israeli battle.

Attributable to Israel's army occupation within the West Financial institution, the Palestinian Authority, arrange within the wake of peace agreements within the Nineteen Nineties, just isn't in full management of its land or individuals. In Gaza, the place Israel can also be the occupying energy, Hamas has been the only real ruler since 2007.

UK ministers have highlighted the continued enlargement of Israeli settlements within the occupied West Financial institution, that are unlawful below worldwide regulation, as a key issue within the determination to recognise Palestinian statehood.

Mohammed Jarrar, mayor of the West Financial institution metropolis of Jenin, informed the BBC that "this Israeli authorities needs to annex the West Financial institution" - however pressured that recognition was necessary as "it confirms the truth that the Palestinian individuals possess a state, even whether it is below occupation".

Netanyahu repeated his intentions on Sunday, saying "we doubled Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] and we are going to proceed on this path".

Far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben Gvir responded to the information by calling for Israel to annex the West Financial institution and dismantle the Palestinian Authority.