UK denies Palestinian state recognition is ‘reward’ for Hamas

British minister in Keir Starmer’s government denies accusations by Israeli leaders that move to recognize unilateral Palestinian statehood constitutes a “reward” for Hamas.

By World Israel News Staff

The British government pushed back Wednesday on recent comments by senior Israeli leaders accusing the UK of rewarding Hamas terrorism by recognizing unilateral Palestinian statehood.

Speaking with LBC Radio, Transport Minister Heidi Alexander denied that the Keir Starmer government’s decision to recognize Palestinian statehood should the war in Gaza continue constituted a “reward” for Hamas’ invasion of Israel on October 7th, 2023.

“This is not a reward for Hamas,” Alexander said. “Hamas is a vile terrorist organization that has committed appalling atrocities.”

“This is about the Palestinian people. It’s about those children that we see in Gaza who are starving to death,” he said. “We’ve got to ratchet up pressure on the Israeli government to lift the restrictions to get aid back into Gaza.”

Israel castigated Prime Minister Starmer’s decision on Tuesday to issue an ultimatum to the Jewish state, threatening to grant recognition to unilateral Palestinian statehood at a United Nations Security Council meeting in September should Israel fail to end the war against Hamas in Gaza.

“Starmer rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism and punishes its victims,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted on Tuesday. “A jihadist state on Israel’s border today will threaten Britain tomorrow.”

“Appeasement toward jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you too. It will not happen,” he added.

Just hours prior to Starmer’s announcement on Tuesday, the British and Israeli premiers spoke by telephone.

During the conversation, Starmer emphasized that his government considers the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip to be “intolerable,” demanding an increase in the amount of aid entering the coastal enclave.

In addition to pledging to recognize unilateral Palestinian statehood in September if the war in Gaza continues, Starmer also demanded that Israel not move forward with plans pushed by some government ministers to apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.