In a move that has sent ripples through international diplomacy, the United Kingdom formally recognised the State of Palestine as a sovereign nation in September 2025, upending decades of official British policy and igniting both celebration and controversy across the globe. The decision, which came just ahead of the United Nations General Assembly meeting, marks a significant shift for a country that, until now, had insisted Palestinian statehood must be the culmination—not the precondition—of a peace process with Israel.
For many, the UK’s recognition is not merely symbolic. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the world’s sixth-largest economy, and the former colonial power in both Palestine and Israel, Britain’s voice still carries considerable weight. According to BBC News, the move places London among a growing chorus of over 150 nations, including France and Canada, that have now recognised Palestine, even as Israel and the United States continue to reject such steps, arguing they undermine efforts to secure a ceasefire in the ongoing Gaza conflict.
The announcement, made by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government, did not come out of the blue. Back in July, Labour had warned Israel that unless it declared a ceasefire and allowed humanitarian aid into Gaza, the UK would proceed with recognition before the September UN meeting. Israel, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, did neither. Instead, as reported by BBC News, Israeli military operations intensified, with thousands more Palestinian civilians killed since July and essential aid—including food, medicine, and even wheelchairs—blocked from entering besieged areas.
The UK’s shift is especially notable given its historical ties. The infamous 1917 Balfour Declaration, in which Britain promised support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, set the stage for the later establishment of Israel. Yet, as Professor Victor Kattan of the University of Nottingham told the BBC, "Britain denied self-government to the Palestinian community... It empowered a high commissioner to behave like a dictator [and] Palestinian people bore the brunt." These wounds, he argued, remain open, and recognition alone does not address the legacy of colonial rule.
That legacy has returned to the spotlight in the wake of Britain’s recognition. Earlier this month, thirteen Palestinian families submitted a 400-page legal petition to the UK Foreign Office, demanding an official apology and reparations for alleged war crimes committed by British forces during the Mandate period from 1917 to 1948. The petition documents decades of violence, repression, and forced expulsion, culminating in what Palestinians call the Nakba—the catastrophe—when at least 750,000 people were driven from their homes as Zionist militias captured 78% of historic Palestine. The remaining 22% was divided between the Gaza Strip (then under Egyptian control) and the West Bank (annexed by Jordan), both of which fell under Israeli occupation after 1967.
According to the legal submission and corroborated by a 2022 BBC investigation, British forces during the Mandate allegedly engaged in murder, torture, expulsion, and collective punishment—acts the petitioners argue amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The evidence includes accounts of arbitrary killings, the burning of entire villages, "caging" civilians outdoors, using human shields, and demolishing homes as collective punishment. Many of these acts, the petition claims, were either sanctioned by official policy or carried out with the approval of senior officers.
The UK Ministry of Defence acknowledged in 2022 that it was aware of such allegations and pledged to review any evidence thoroughly. However, the Foreign Office has so far declined to confirm whether ministers are aware of the latest petition, stating it does not "routinely comment on" such matters. Nevertheless, the BBC understands that Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy is now asking officials to examine the submission.
For the petitioners, Britain’s recognition of Palestine is a welcome step but not a substitute for reckoning with the past. "Recognition alone does not deal with all these historic problems which for Palestinians are not history but the living reality to this day," Professor Kattan told the BBC. The families hope to build on precedents such as the UK’s apology for the 1948 Batang Kali massacre in Malaya and the settlement over abuses during Kenya’s Mau Mau uprising, seeking formal acknowledgment and reparations for their suffering under British rule.
The political calculus behind the Labour government’s decision is complex. While some have hailed the move as a moral stance, others see electoral strategy at play. Labour MPs, under pressure from constituents and facing defections to pro-Palestinian parties like the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, the Scottish National Party, and Plaid Cymru, pushed Prime Minister Starmer to act. Several independent pro-Palestine MPs, all Muslims and former Labour members, now hold seats that were once Labour strongholds. According to BBC News, even some prominent Labour figures, such as Jess Phillips and Wes Streeting, face tough challenges from pro-Palestine independents in future elections.
In a bid to balance competing pressures, the UK Foreign Office’s recognition statement included a strong condemnation of Hamas, aiming to appease Israel and its allies. Yet, as the situation on the ground in Gaza has grown ever more dire—over 65,500 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, according to the Gaza health ministry—many argue that such gestures ring hollow without concrete action to alleviate suffering and address historic injustices.
Israel, for its part, has dismissed the UK’s recognition as meaningless, though it lobbied strenuously to prevent it. The Israeli government, led by Netanyahu, has long opposed a Palestinian state, with Netanyahu vowing to prevent its establishment. Israeli officials argue that recognising Palestine rewards terrorism, while critics counter that continued occupation and military actions constitute far greater abuses. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, where, according to multiple reports, Palestinian homes are seized at gunpoint and civilians are killed with impunity by settlers and security forces. The Palestinian Authority, meanwhile, controls only fragmented enclaves with limited autonomy.
Recent months have seen Israel consider formal annexation of parts of the West Bank, a move that would further complicate prospects for peace. The Israeli military claims to have decimated Hamas’s fighting capacity in Gaza—once estimated at 25,000 fighters, now said to be mostly killed, wounded, or captured. Yet, the violence continues, and Israel holds over 11,000 Palestinian detainees, including more than 400 children, most without trial or adequate legal safeguards.
As the UK’s recognition reverberates, moderate Israelis and Palestinians alike face a new landscape. Some in Israel now argue that Netanyahu’s hardline policies have backfired, prompting even historic allies to reconsider their stance. The possibility of a two-state solution, long touted as the only viable path to peace, remains as fraught and distant as ever, but Britain’s move has at least put the issue back on the international agenda.
The road ahead is uncertain, but for many Palestinians, the fight is not just for statehood, but for justice and acknowledgment of a painful history that still shapes their daily lives. Whether the UK’s recognition will be a turning point or another chapter in a long saga remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: the conversation about Palestine’s past and future is far from over.