UK warns Israel against West Bank annexation after recognition of Palestinian state

Britain has cautioned Israel not to annex parts of the occupied West Bank after London joined several allies in recognising a Palestinian state, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Monday.

Cooper told the BBC ahead of a United Nations conference in New York that she had made Britain's position clear to her Israeli counterpart, says the BBC.

"We have been clear that this decision that we are taking is about the best way to respect the security for Israel as well as the security for Palestinians," she said. "It's about protecting peace and justice and crucially security for the Middle East."

Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the recognition on Sunday, in a coordinated move with Canada, Australia and Portugal. France, Belgium and other European states are expected to follow suit.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the announcements, saying they gave "a huge reward to terrorism." He repeated Israel's opposition to Palestinian statehood, saying it "will not happen."

The United States also criticised the recognition, calling it a diplomatic gift to Hamas, which killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in its Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Starmer said Hamas would have "no future, no role in government, no role in security" in a Palestinian state, pointing to existing British sanctions on the group and plans to expand themm, reports the BBC.

Hamas welcomed the recognition as an "important step" but said it must be accompanied by measures leading to "an immediate end" to the war in Gaza.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the move would help pave the way for the "state of Palestine to live side by side with the state of Israel in security, peace and good neighbourliness."

The UK government has cited Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank, deemed illegal under international law, as a factor in its decision.

Cooper said extremists on both sides sought to derail a two-state solution, which she called a "moral obligation" to revive. "Just as we recognise the state of Israel, so we must also recognise the rights for the Palestinians to a state of their own," she said.

The recognition remains largely symbolic. Palestine is recognised by around three-quarters of UN member states but lacks defined borders, a capital or armed forces.