Starmer and Trump talk Gaza as Cabinet recalled for emergency meeting

The plan, which a Downing Street spokesperson labelled “UK-led”, would be presented “to international allies through calls and conversations over the coming days, including the USA and Arab states”.

Starmer has been under pressure from MPs, including many from his own party, to immediately recognise a Palestinian state.

International Development Select Committee Chair Sarah Champion has organised a letter signed by 255 MPs – nearly 40 per cent of the House – urging the government to “recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel!”.

It followed Macron’s announcement last week that his country would unilaterally recognise a Palestinian state this September.

Although both Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy are in New York for a UN conference on Palestine today, Downing Street appeared to indicate that the UK would not be following France in its immediate recognition.

“We're focused on a pathway to peace. We're focused on a route to a two-state solution. We are clear that Palestinians have an inalienable right to statehood, and that that is a question of when, and not if”, the spokesperson said, adding that the prime minister had “also been very clear that recognition must be seen within the wider context of human suffering in Gaza and the release of the remaining hostages, which must also be prioritised if we want to see a sustainable and lasting peace in the region”.

Earlier this afternoon, Starmer – alongside his wife Lady Victoria, who is Jewish – met US Trump in his golf course in Turnberry, Ayrshire.

Asked by reporters ahead of a meeting with Starmer whether he thought there he agreed with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that there was no starvation in Gaza, Trump said: “I don’t know. Based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry. We’re giving a lot of money and a lot of food and other nations are now stepping up.”

Later, during a joint press conference, Starmer told reporters that the pair discussed “the situation in Gaza and the intolerable situation, including images of starvation”.

He added: “I think both of us know that we have to get to that ceasefire and we have to increase humanitarian aid in, and thank you for what you’ve already been doing, are doing and are committed to, because without you this would not be capable of resolution.

“And I think if we can work not just on the pressing issues of the ceasefire but also on this issue of getting humanitarian aid in at volume, at speed, and then we’ve discussed a plan for what then happens afterwards, I think we can do our very best to alleviate what is an awful situation at the moment.”

Trump also hit out at Hamas, which he described as being “very difficult to deal with in the last couple of days” because of the group’s refusal to release Israeli hostages.

He went on: “They don’t want to give up these last 20 [living hostages] because they think, as long as they have them, they have protection. But I don’t think it can work that way so I’m speaking to Bibi Netanyahu and we are coming up with various plans, we’re going to say.”

Despite the domestic political pressure to take a more critical stance against Israel, both the Conservatives and Reform UK have urged the government not to forget the responsibility Hamas had to end the conflict.

Speaking on Trevor Phillips on Sunday on Sky News, Conservative Party Leader Kemi Bademoch said: "We cannot allow a terrorist organisation to win."

She continued: "We mustn't forget how this started... On October 7 [2023], a massacre occurred, it was an act of war, there are still people who are being held hostage and they need to be brought home.”

Likewise, Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice urged the government not to follow France in recognising a Palestinian state.

“Hamas do not want a ceasefire nor peace Hamas just want control and to terrify people”, he said in a post on X, adding: “The US is right to state this point Labour, Macron and the UN would be wise to listen Hamas are responsible for the tragedy in Gaza.”

Some Labour figures have also urged Starmer not to unilaterally recognise a Palestinian state.

In an article for LabourList, Labour Friends of Israel chair Jon Pearce MP wrote: “If we want to see the creation of genuinely viable Palestinian state, Britain must reject such a performative approach to an issue that demands a willingness to do the detail and last the course.”

Although they described the situation in Gaza as “horrendous” and praised the government for focusing on aleviating the humanitarian coniditions there, one Labour source told the JC that recognition “does nothing to improve the situation on the ground.”

They said: “Instead of empty gestures, the priority must be stopping the fighting in Gaza and then creating an actual process which might create a viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel."