French, UK leaders press Israel over Gaza aid as Macron backs Palestinian state

The leaders of Britain France and Germany demanded Israel allow unrestricted aid into Gaza to end a ldquohumanitarian catastrophe after French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country will become the first major Western power to recognize a Palestinian stateThe joint statement issued after a calll between Macron British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for an an immediate ceasefire and said that ldquowithholding essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable though it broke no new diplomatic groundThe leaders said they ldquostand ready to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political process that leads to lasting security and peace for Israelis Palestinians and the entire regionrdquo but did not say what that action might beFrances move exposes European divisionsMacrons surprise announcement exposed differences among the European allies known as the E3 over how to ease the worsening humanitarian crisis and end the IsraelHamas warAll three support a Palestinian state in principle but Germany said it has no immediate plans to follow Francersquos step which Macron plans to formalize at the United Nations General Assembly in SeptemberBritain has not followed suit either but Starmer is under mounting pressure to formally recognize Palestinian statehood both from opposition lawmakers and from members of his own Labour Party government Health Secretary Wes Streeting on Tuesday called for an announcement ldquowhile therersquos still a state of Palestine left to recognizerdquoOn Friday 221 of the 650 lawmakers in the House of Commons signed a letter urging Starmer to recognize a Palestinian stateldquoSince 1980 we have backed a twostate solution Such a recognition would give that position substancerdquo said the letter signed by legislators from several government and opposition partiesAfter the E3 call on Friday Starmer condemned ldquothe continued captivity of hostages the starvation and denial of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people the increasing violence from extremist settler groups and Israelrsquos disproportionate military escalation in GazardquoHe said that ldquorecognition of a Palestinian staterdquo must be one of the steps on a pathway to peaceldquoI am unequivocal about that But it must be part of a wider plan which ultimately results in a twostate solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelisrdquo he saidMore than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state including a dozen in Europe But France is the first Group of Seven country and the largest European nation to take that stepIsrael and the United States both denounced Frances decisionBritain has long supported the idea of an independent Palestinian state existing alongside Israel but has said recognition should come as part of a negotiated twostate solution to the conflictAny such solution appears far off There had been no substantive IsraelPalestinian negotiations for years even before the Oct 7 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1200 people and sparked the current warHumanitarian crisis alarms Israels alliesThe worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza where hunger is spreading and children have starved to death has caused alarm even among Israelrsquos closest alliesGermany has traditionally been a particularly staunch ally of Israel in Europe with relations rooted in the history of the Holocaust It says recognizing a Palestinian state should be ldquoone of the concluding stepsrdquo in negotiating a twostate solution and it ldquodoes not plan to recognize a Palestinian state in the short termrdquoBut Berlin too has sharpened its tone recently describing the Israeli militaryrsquos actions in Gaza as unacceptable and pushing for greater humanitarian aid but still appears to favor trying to influence Israeli officials by direct contactThe German government said in a statement on Friday that it is in a ldquoconstant exchangerdquo with the Israeli government and other partners on issues that include a ceasefire in Gaza and the need to drastically improve humanitarian aid It said it is ldquoprepared to increase the pressurerdquo if there is no progress but didnrsquot elaborate on howBritain has halted some arms sales to Israel suspended free trade talks and sanctioned farright government ministers and extremist settlers but Starmer is under intense pressure to do moreAlso weighing on Starmer is his desire to maintain good relations with the US administration which has strongly criticized Francersquos decision The British leader is due to meet President Donald Trump in the next few days while the president is in Scotland visiting two golf courses he owns thereYossi Mekelberg a Middle East expert at the international affairs thinktank Chatham House said Macronrsquos decision to defer finalizing recognition until September ldquocreates some spacerdquo for other countries to get on boardldquoWe know that the UK is close but not thererdquo he said ldquoThis might encourage Starmer who we know is not one to rush such a decision hellip This might create some momentum some dynamic for the UKrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever