- 22/09/2025
- Posted by: Valerie Vaz MP
- Category: News
The UK formally recognised a Palestinian State on 21 September 2025, as part of our ongoing effort to protect the viability of a two-state solution and create a path towards lasting peace for the Israeli and Palestinian people.
Dr Husam Zomlot, the Head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK, on 15 September 2025 met MPs in Parliament as we have been calling for recognition to celebrate this outcome.
A declaration recognising Palestinian statehood results in the UK:
• Recognising Palestine as a state, acknowledging all the legal rights and obligations of statehood, and expecting the State of Palestine to abide by previous commitments entered into by the PLO or PA, specifically the Oslo Accords.
• Noting that the UK recognises Palestinian statehood over provisional borders, based on 1967 lines with equal land swaps, to be finalised as part of future negotiations.
• The Foreign Secretary will write to her Palestinian counterpart in due course to lay out the process for establishing full diplomatic relations.
• Recognising Palestine as a state, acknowledging all the legal rights and obligations of statehood, and expecting the State of Palestine to abide by previous commitments entered into by the PLO or PA, specifically the Oslo Accords.
• Noting that the UK recognises Palestinian statehood over provisional borders, based on 1967 lines with equal land swaps, to be finalised as part of future negotiations.
• The Foreign Secretary will write to her Palestinian counterpart in due course to lay out the process for establishing full diplomatic relations.
It does not mean the acceptance of Hamas as a legitimate governing authority in Gaza, or remove the demands we have made of the Palestinian Authority to conduct extensive reform. The UK has a historic and moral responsibility to protect the viability of the two-state solution. Having recognised the State of Israel in 1950, the time is now right to recognise the State of Palestine in 2025. For years, British governments have called for a two-state solution but have only recognised one state.
Recognition of Palestine reflects the equal rights of and equal esteem in which we hold the Israeli and Palestinian peoples. In July, the Prime Minister pledged to act if the situation on the ground did not change. Since then, the situation on the ground in Gaza has worsened, Israel continues to expand its illegal settlements in the West Bank, and Hamas is still holding the hostages. He firmly believes that the UK has a moral responsibility to do everything it can to support a peaceful future for Israel and Palestine–via a two-state solution, the prospect of which is slipping further away. That is why we are acting now.
A two-state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state led by a reformed Palestinian Authority, is the only path to a lasting peace for the Israeli and the Palestinian people.