Minister rejects claim that recognition of Palestine state could breach international law

A minister has denied claims that Sir Keir Starmer could risk breaching international law with his pledge to recognise Palestine as a state.

Nearly 40 members of the House of Lords, including prominent UK lawyers, made the claims in a letter to Attorney General Lord Hermer yesterday.

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The letter, first reported by The Times, argues that Sir Keir’s promise to recognise Palestine in September – unless Israel takes “substantive steps” to end the situation in Gaza – may breach international law as the territory may not meet the criteria for statehood under the Montevideo Convention, a treaty signed in 1933.

But speaking to Wilfred Frost on Sky News Breakfast, small business minister Gareth Thomas said he did not believe the move, which has been condemned by Israel, would breach international law because the UK has not signed the Montevideo Convention.

He pointed out that 140 countries have already recognised Palestine as a state.

Mr Thomas said: “I respect the views of those lawyers, but in the end, recognition of a state is a political judgement.

“And we’ve been very clear that our judgement is that the Palestinians have an inalienable right to statehood; that now is the right time to say publicly that we will recognise the state of [Palestine] unless Israel agrees to end the appalling violence that we’re seeing in Gaza at the moment, and commits to a two state solution.”

He added: “And the ceasefire that can enable the huge amounts of aid we need to get aid and to feed the people of Gaza and commits to no annexation of land in the West Bank. Otherwise, we will recognise, at the UN General Assembly in September.”

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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday followed in the footsteps of the UK and France, saying his country would also recognise Palestine as a state pending certain conditions – including that the Palestinian Authority commits to fundamentally reforming its governance, and holds general elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part.

But in their letter to Lord Hermer, 38 peers said Palestine “does not meet the international law criteria for recognition of a state, namely, defined territory, a permanent population, an effective government and the capacity to enter into relations with other states”.

They said there was no certainty over the borders of Palestine and no single government, while also pointing out that Hamas and Fatah are enemies.

Lord Hermer has previously insisted that a commitment to international law “goes absolutely to the heart” of the government’s approach to foreign policy.

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Among the respected lawyers who have signed the letter are Lord Pannick – who represented the previous government at the Supreme Court over its Rwanda scheme – as well as KCs Lord Verdirame and Lord Faulks.

Some of Parliament’s most prominent Jewish voices, including crossbench peer Baroness Deech, Labour’s Lord Winston and the Conservatives’ Baroness Altmann, have also put their name to the letter.

Israel has condemned the UK’s decision, with the foreign ministry arguing it “constitutes a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of hostages”.