Starmer claims UK Palestine recognition helped pave way for Trump’s Gaza deal

The UK’s decision to recognise Palestine helped pave the way for the Gaza peace deal eventually secured by US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has told MPs.

Speaking after his return from the peace summit in Egypt, Starmer said he was “proud” of the government’s contributions, adding, “We’ve worked behind the scenes for months with the US, Arab, and European nations to help deliver a ceasefire, get the hostages out, allow aid in, and secure a better future for Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank.

“I’m proud of our contribution.

“We are in a position to play this role precisely because of the approach this Government takes.

“That includes our decision to recognise the state of Palestine.

“This move, taken alongside our allies—France, Canada, Australia, and others—helped lead to the historic New York declaration. For the first time, the entire Arab League condemned the atrocities of October 7, urged Hamas to disarm, and, crucially, demanded that they end their rule in Gaza.”

But the PM also added:”There can be no viable future for Gaza, no security for Israel, if Hamas can still threaten bloodshed and terror. So we will work to put that threat out of action for good.”

In a statement delivered in the Commons on Tuesday, the Prime Minister emphasised that the peace deal signed on Monday belonged to US President Donald Trump.

He said, “This is his deal.”

The Prime Minister added, “Let no one be in any doubt that none of this would have been possible without President Trump.

“This is his peace deal, delivered, of course, with President Sisi of Egypt, the Emir of Qatar, and President Erdogan of Turkey. Alongside our partners, we have also offered the UK’s full support to these efforts.”

However, Starmer clashed with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch after she accused the Government of “rewarding terrorism” and criticised pro-Palestine protesters for being “relatively silent about the good news of a ceasefire and hostage return.”

Badenoch told the Commons: “In a move praised by Hamas, Labour decided to recognise a state of Palestine with no condition to release the hostages still held in the tunnels of Gaza, rewarding terrorism.”

She further accused Starmer of “taking the wrong decisions time and time again, diminishing our influence in the Middle East.

“It’s quite clear that UK relations with Israel have been strained by the actions of this Government,” Badenoch continued. “Their view, and they have stated publicly, is that it looks like, under pressure from his own back benches, the Prime Minister has taken the wrong decisions time and time again, diminishing our influence in the region.”

Her remarks were met with cries of “shame” from Labour MPs.

Responding to the Conservative leader, Starmer said: “Yes, I did discuss Palestine recognition with President Trump” prior to the government’s decision to confirm the move, rejecting claims that the decision had rewarded Hamas.

Starmer added now is “not the time for a fight about the role which any individual played” in progressing a Gaza peace deal.

Addressing the row over the role Britain played in securing the peace deal, the prime minister said: “I am proud of what Steve Witkoff [the US envoy] said about our national security adviser. He was negotiating this, he knows absolutely the role we played and this House should be proud that we played that role.

“We played that role only because of the relationship that this government has with the Trump administration. We are a trusted partner, working both before this peace deal and afterwards.”

Starmer insisted that a two-state solution now has its best chance of being implemented since the Oslo Accords were signed in the 1990s.

He opened his statement by condemning the attack on a synagogue in Manchester and promising tougher measures to counter the rise of antisemitism.

Starmer also condemned a recent arson attack on a mosque and pledged to fight hate in all its forms, stating: “We will fight against hate in all its forms.”

The PM’s comments about the impact Palestine recognition made on the talks towards an eventual ceasefire were supported by earlier comments made by Bronwen Maddox, the director of the influential Chatham House think tank.

She said: “The UK has made it very clear all along that it cares about this, and that matters.

“For all that Israel complained about the UK recognising Palestinian statehood, that did play an important role in signalling how engaged the UK and others were in what was happening in the region.”

A day earlier Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, had described  education secretary Bridget Phillipson as “delusional” after she talked about the UK’s “key role” in negotiating the deal.

But in the Commons on Tuesday, Starmer highlighted a post on X by Steve Witkoff who had praised the “vital” role played by the PM’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell.

Writing for Jewish News, Adam Wagner and Adam Rose, the lawyers who represented the seven British-linked families, observed:” The majority (though not all) of the British hostage families opposed the recognition of a Palestinian State, especially whilst hostages were still held.

“This was hugely sensitive and controversial.

“However, it was our strong impression that the recognition decision was part of a wider transactional strategy of encouraging the Arab states to disown Hamas and condemn the 7 October attacks. We do not know if that made a difference, but it is plausible that it did.” OPINION: Our pride at standing with hostage families as they moved heaven and earth for their loved ones

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has welcomed the ceasefire in Gaza as a “moment of hope”, but warned that the situation is “precarious”.

He told the House of Commons: “After the horrific Hamas terror attacks of October 7 and two years of appalling death and destruction since, the ceasefire in Gaza comes as an enormous relief to us all.

“It finally offers a moment of hope, but it is only the beginning and there is a lot of work to do.”