Great Britain is discussing plans with France to announce the recognition of Palestine as early as the summer of 2025. According to the British newspaper The Guardian, this step could be timed to coincide with the international conference on the implementation of the “two states for two peoples” plan, organized under the auspices of the UN on June 2-4.
Speaking on Wednesday at the relevant committee of the British parliament, the head of the British Foreign Office David Lammy confirmed for the first time that London and Paris are discussing the issue of recognizing Palestine in connection with the upcoming conference, co-founded by Saudi Arabia. At the same time, he previously emphasized that a necessary condition for the recognition of Palestinian statehood would be the complete removal of representatives of the radical Hamas movement from power in the Gaza Strip and the departure of the movement’s leaders from the autonomy.
As noted in the article, the recognition of Palestine by two permanent members of the UN Security Council could give new impetus to efforts in the field of Palestinian-Israeli settlement, but there are many diplomatic obstacles on the way to this. One of the main ones will be resistance from Israel, whose leadership believes that recognition of Palestine will strengthen the positions of Hamas and Iran. In addition, as Lammy emphasized in his speech, London does not want recognition of Palestine by Great Britain and France to be a purely symbolic gesture. According to him, such a step must be taken at a time when it can have the maximum effect, changing the situation in the region for the better.
On April 9, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Paris could recognize the statehood of Palestine in June. In 2024, with the aggravation of the situation in the Middle East, the authorities of Ireland, Spain and Norway announced the recognition of the State of Palestine. In response, Israel announced the recall of ambassadors from Dublin, Madrid and Oslo for consultations. At the same time, the heads of the diplomatic missions of Ireland, Spain and Norway were summoned to the Foreign Ministry of the Jewish state.