Summary
- Labour MP demands Hamas release hostages before recognition.
- Calls on Keir Starmer to set preconditions clearly.
- Concern over rewarding Hamas amid ongoing hostage
crisis.
- Some MPs urge aid focus over premature recognition.
- Starmer insists on Hamas' role; hostages must be freed.
A "unilateral recognition" of a
Palestinian state runs the risk of "handing Hamas a PR victory,"
according to Mike Tapp, vice-chairman of the Labour Friends of Israel.
Last week, the prime minister declared that
unless Israel fulfilled specific requirements, the UK would recognize a Palestinian
state during a September UN General Assembly session.
Downing Street has not stated whether the captives must be freed or whether Hamas might remain
in control of the area before a state is recognized.
The first Labour MP to openly demand that the
release of hostages be a requirement for Palestine's recognition is Mr. Tapp,
the MP for Dover and Deal.
Writing for Jewish News, he said:
“The release of the hostages must be among the conditions for any UK recognition.”
He added:
“For a two-state solution to achieve the ends we all desire – self-determination for the Palestinian people and security for the Israeli people – it is crucial that Britain also conditions recognition on Hamas committing to disarmament and having no further role in the governance of a Palestinian state .
This is the common-sense view of the British people.”
The Prime Minister outlined last week's demands
for Israel, which included consenting to a truce and permitting the UN to
resume providing aid.
However, Obama did not specify any particular
requirements for Hamas or the Palestinian Authority as part of the recognition
process in his address presenting his idea.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said on Monday:
“We’ve been very clear that Hamas must release all hostages unconditionally and immediately, and the Prime Minister and the Government have said that.”
Hostage families and a British hostage released
earlier this year criticised the Prime Minister’s announcement.
Emily Damari, a dual British-Israeli citizen who survived 471 days in Hamas captivity, said:
“This is not diplomacy – it is a moral failure. Shame on you, Prime Minister.”
Last week, Hamas released a video of an
emaciated Israeli hostage digging his own grave inside a small tunnel in Gaza.
Mr Tapp wrote on Tuesday:
“Unilateral recognition in September risks handing Hamas a PR victory and, by playing the card before the conditions for lasting peace are met, diminishing Britain’s relevance in any future peace process.
It remains a mirage: an easy, symbolic act which suggests there is some way to short circuit the hard graft of direct negotiations – wrestling with tough compromises and minute details – which ultimately remains the only credible, serious path to a two-state solution.”
How might Hamas’s role influence the UK’s decision on Palestinian recognition?
The UK requires Hamas to release all hostages
held in Gaza. Hamas must agree to a ceasefire and not participate in the future
governance of Gaza.
The UK has stated that Hamas can have no role in
Gaza's future, aligning with a broad diplomatic consensus that it is a
"pariah" group due to its terror actions.
Although the UK plans to recognize Palestine in
September 2025, the recognition will follow an assessment of how far Israel and
Hamas have met these conditions and other steps toward peace and humanitarian
relief.