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The United Kingdom does not recognise Palestine as a state. [1] The UK has a non-accredited Consulate General in Jerusalem that "represents the UK government in Jerusalem, West Bank, and Gaza", and works on "political, commercial, security and economic interests between the UK and the Palestinian territories". [2] Husam Zomlot became head of the Palestine Mission to the United Kingdom in 2018. [3] [4] The State of Palestine was represented in London by Manuel Hassassian, [5] the Palestinian General Delegate to the United Kingdom between 2005 and 2018. Another former Palestinian General Delegate to the UK was Afif Safieh, who began in that role in 1990.[ citation needed ] The UK House of Commons voted in favor of recognizing Palestine as a state in 2014, as a contribution towards achieving a negotiated two-state solution. [6] However, the UK government maintained its policy of reserving the right to recognize Palestine bilaterally at a more opportune time for peace efforts.
Since the Six-Day War, the British government has been active to achieve a diplomatic settlement of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The issue of a Palestinian state was raised already in July 1967 by Labour MP Paul Rose. [7] Margaret Thatcher generally supported a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation and was willing to consider some Palestine Liberation Organization involvement in this solution. [8]
In February 2021, the British Consul-General in Jerusalem, Philip Hall, condemned settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories as "illegal and an obstacle to restarting peace talks" between Israel and Palestine. [9] That same month, the Court of First Instance in Nablus ruled that the British government's Balfour Declaration in 1917 was invalid and called on the British government to issue an apology to the Palestinian people. [10] In April, the Palestinian government said that relations had reached a "low point" after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his opposition to an International Criminal Court investigation into alleged war crimes in the Israeli-occupied territories. [11] [12] In May, Pro-Palestinian protests were held in London during that month's Israel–Palestine crisis. [13]
From 1 July 1997 until 30 December 2020, trade between the Palestinian Authority and the UK was governed by the Palestinian Authority–European Union Association Agreement, while the United Kingdom was a member of the European Union. [14] Following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, the UK and the Palestinian Authority signed a continuity trade agreement on 18 February 2019, based on the EU free trade agreement; the agreement entered into force on 1 January 2021. [15] [16] Trade value between Palestinian Authority and the United Kingdom was worth £69 million in 2022. [17]
In October 2014, the UK House of Commons passed a motion which called on the government to recognise Palestine as an independent state. [18] Also in October 2014, the devolved government of Scotland called for recognition of Palestine as an independent state and for the UK to open an embassy there. [19] Jeremy Corbyn, former Leader of the Opposition, is a longtime advocate for Palestinian causes and repeatedly pledged to recognise the country if elected. [20]
In January 2024 the Foreign Secretary, David Cameron indicated that the United Kingdom could formally recognise and establish diplomatic relations to a Palestinian state during the negotiations for a peace deal of the Israel–Hamas war. [21] Palestinian Ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot remarked that it is the “first time a UK foreign secretary considers recognising the State of Palestine, bilaterally and in the UN, as a contribution to a peaceful solution rather than an outcome”. [22]
On 8 February 2024, Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy stated that a Labour government would consider unilaterally recognising a Palestinian state if they entered government in the 2024 general election. [23]
The Palestinian Authority, officially known as the Palestinian National Authority or the State of Palestine, is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as a consequence of the 1993–1995 Oslo Accords. The Palestinian Authority controlled the Gaza Strip prior to the Palestinian elections of 2006 and the subsequent Gaza conflict between the Fatah and Hamas parties, when it lost control to Hamas; the PA continues to claim the Gaza Strip, although Hamas exercises de facto control. Since January 2013, the Palestinian Authority has used the name "State of Palestine" on official documents, although the United Nations continues to recognize the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) as the "representative of the Palestinian people".
The history of the State of Palestine describes the creation and evolution of the State of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. During the Mandatory period, numerous plans of partition of Palestine were proposed but without the agreement of all parties. In 1947, the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was voted for. The leaders of the Jewish Agency for Palestine accepted parts of the plan, while Arab leaders refused it. This triggered the 1947–1949 Palestine war and led, in 1948, to the establishment of the state of Israel on a part of Mandate Palestine as the Mandate came to an end.
The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has referred to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as "the Occupied Palestinian Territory", and this term was used as the legal definition by the ICJ in its advisory opinion of July 2004. The term occupied Palestinian territory was used by the United Nations and other international organizations between October 1999 and December 2012 to refer to areas controlled by the Palestinian National Authority, but from 2012, when Palestine was admitted as one of its non-member observer states, the United Nations started using exclusively the name State of Palestine. The European Union (EU) also uses the term "occupied Palestinian territory". The government of Israel and its supporters use the label "disputed territories" instead.
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in the southern Levant region of West Asia. It encompasses two disconnected territories — the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, collectively known as the Palestinian territories — within the larger region of Palestine. The country shares its borders with Israel to north, west and south, Jordan to the east and Egypt to the southwest. It has a combined land area of 6,020 square kilometres (2,320 sq mi) while its population exceeds five million people. Its proclaimed capital is Jerusalem while Ramallah serves as its administrative center and Gaza City was its largest city until massive population movements began in 2023 due to the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. Arabic is the official language. The majority of Palestinians practice Islam while Christianity also has a significant presence.
The status of Jerusalem has been described as "one of the most intractable issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict" due to the long-running territorial dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, both of which claim it as their capital city. Part of this issue of sovereignty is tied to concerns over access to holy sites in the Abrahamic religions; the current religious environment in Jerusalem is upheld by the "Status Quo" of the former Ottoman Empire. As the Israeli–Palestinian peace process has primarily navigated the option of a two-state solution, one of the largest points of contention has been East Jerusalem, which was part of the Jordanian-annexed West Bank until the beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1967.
Israel is an associated state of the European Union. The relations between the two are framed in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, and the Union for the Mediterranean.
Israel–United Kingdom relations, or Anglo-Israeli relations, are the diplomatic and commercial ties between the United Kingdom and Israel. The British embassy to Israel is located in Tel Aviv. The UK has an honorary consul in Eilat and a non-accredited consulate-general in Jerusalem, that represents the United Kingdom in that city and the Palestinian territories. Israel has three representative offices in the United Kingdom: an Embassy located in London and consulates in Cardiff and Glasgow.
Ireland–Israel relations are foreign relations between Ireland and Israel.
Israel–Norway relations are the bilateral relations between Israel and Norway. Norway was one of the first countries to recognize Israel, doing so on 4 February 1949.
The bilateral relations between Australia and Israel were formally established in 1949. Australia has an embassy in Tel Aviv and Israel has an embassy in Canberra.
China–Palestine relations, also referred to as Sino–Palestinian relations, encompass the long bilateral relationship between China and Palestine dating back from the early years of the Cold War.
Political relations between the State of Palestine and the United States have been complex and strained since the 1960s. While the U.S. does not recognize the State of Palestine, it recognizes the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the legitimate representative entity for the Palestinian people; following the Oslo Accords, it recognized the Palestinian National Authority as the legitimate Palestinian government of the Palestinian territories.
The Palestinian–Serbian relations are bilateral relations between the State of Palestine and the Republic of Serbia. Relations between Serbia and Palestine have been very close and friendly.
Relations between the European Union and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) were established in 1975 as part of the Euro-Arab Dialogue. The EU is a member of the Quartet and is the single largest donor of foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority.
The foreign relations of the State of Palestine have been conducted since the establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1964. Since the Oslo Accords, it seeks to obtain universal recognition for the State of Palestine on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. As of 21 June 2024, 145 of the 193 United Nations (UN) member states officially recognize the State of Palestine.
As of June 2024, the State of Palestine is recognized as a sovereign state by 145 of the 193 member states of the United Nations. It has been a non-member observer state of the United Nations General Assembly since November 2012.
Greece–Palestine relations are bilateral relations between the Hellenic Republic and the State of Palestine. Due to the historical ties between the two countries, Greece and Palestine today enjoy excellent diplomatic relations. Palestine has a representative office in Athens and Greece's consulate general in Jerusalem is accredited to Palestine. The two countries are members of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum.
Palestine–Spain relations are the bilateral and diplomatic relations between these two countries. Palestine has an embassy in Madrid. Spain has a consulate general in East Jerusalem that serves the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem.
Husam Said Zomlot is a Palestinian diplomat, academic and economist. He was appointed Head of the Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom in October 2018. Before his posting to the UK, he served as head of the PLO mission to the United States that was closed by President Donald Trump's administration.