Britain is not “rewarding Hamas” atrocities in Israel by bringing forward the formal recognition of a Palestinian state, the Government insisted.
Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the Palestinian people needed to be shown “irreversible progress” towards a two-State solution.
Lord Cameron’s comments prompted fury from some backbench Tory MPs, who suggested the “disturbing” comments amounted to rewarding Hamas for the horrific terror attack on October 7, which killed more than 1,700 people.
But Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said: “There is no question of rewarding Hamas for the appalling acts they perpetrated in a pogrom on October 7.
“But the point the Foreign Secretary has been making is that we must give the people of the West Bank and Gaza a credible route to a Palestine state and a new future, but we must do so when the time is right.”
He also told another concerned MP: “The British Government has always made it clear we intend to recognise a Palestinian state when the timing is right.
“He will have seen the comments of the Foreign Secretary last night, which in no way deviate from that policy, but the Foreign Secretary is pointing out how important it is to ensure that people can see that when a political track gets going, real progress can be made.”
The Foreign Secretary urged Israel to allow more humanitarian support into Gaza and said it was “ludicrous” that vital British and other aid was being sent back at the border.
Lord Cameron said the last 30 years had been a story of failure for Israel because it had failed to provide security to its citizens.
And outlining a path to end the bloodshed in the Middle East, the Foreign Secretary said: “We should be starting to set out what a Palestinian state would look like – what it would comprise, how it would work,” he said.
“As that happens, we, with allies, will look at the issue of recognising a Palestinian state, including at the United Nations.
“This could be one of the things that helps to make this process irreversible.”
Lord Cameron said a pause in the fighting was needed now and there were “hopeful signs” about the negotiations under way.
“There is a path that we can now see opening up where we really can make progress, not just in ending the conflict, but progress in finding a political solution that can mean peace for years rather than peace for months,” he said.
The real challenge would be to “turn that pause into a sustainable ceasefire without a return to the fighting, he said.
“That is the prize we should be looking for, and more than that, not just how you go from pause to sustainable ceasefire, but how you go from there to a set of political moves and arrangements that could start to deliver the longer term political solution.
“Although it is incredibly difficult, although efforts in the past have failed, we cannot give up.
“If the last 30 years tells us anything, it is a story of failure.
“Ultimately it is a story of failure for Israel because yes, they had a growing economy, yes they had rising living standards, yes they invested in defence and security and walls and the rest of it, but they couldn’t provide what a state most wants, what every family wants, which is security.
“And so the last 30 years has been a failure.
“And it is only by recognising that failure and recognising that true peace and progress will come when the benefits of peace and progress are greater than the benefits of returning to fighting.”
Both No 10 and junior Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell responded to Lord Cameron’s remarks on Tuesday by insisting that there has been “no change” in UK policy.
Mr Sunak’s spokesman said recognition of a Palestinian state will take place “at a time it best serves the cause of peace”.
Speaking in the Commons, Theresa Villiers said: “It’s really disturbing that BBC online is reporting that the Foreign Secretary has changed the UK Government’s approach on recognition of a Palestinian state.
“Will the minister agree with me that bringing forward and accelerating unilateral recognition of Palestinian state would be to reward Hamas’ atrocities?”
Earlier in the session, Conservative former minister Sir Michael Ellis said: “The Palestinian authorities’ grip on security control across the West Bank has been pushed out by the malevolent forces of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and local terror groups funded by Iran.
“Wouldn’t unilateral recognition of Palestinian state now risk equipping those dangerous actors I just mentioned with the trimmings and capabilities of a state?”
