The UK has formally recognized a Palestinian state, a significant shift in foreign policy announced by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in a move also mirrored by Australia, Canada, and Portugal.

• Sir Keir Starmer stated the decision is to "keep alive the possibility of peace and a two-state solution" and is "not a reward for Hamas."
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fiercely criticized the move, claiming a Palestinian state "will not happen" and it rewards terrorism.
• The Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the recognition, while the Foreign Office clarified it acknowledges statehood over provisional borders, based on 1967 lines with equal land swaps.