The UK government is facing mounting pressure to recognise a Palestinian state as outrage over Israel's starvation of Gaza intensifies.
Those calling for the recognition of Palestine include high-ranking members of the Labour Party, including London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who on Wednesday called for the recognition of a Palestinian state in a post on X.
Khan called on the government to "do far more to pressure the Israeli government to stop this horrific, senseless killing and let vital life-saving aid in. Nothing justifies the actions of the Israeli government."
"The UK must immediately recognise Palestinian statehood. There can be no two state solution if there is no viable state left to call Palestine," Khan added.
Behind closed doors, senior cabinet members are also increasingly calling on Prime Minister Kier Starmer to recognise Palestine, The Guardian reported.
It quoted one minister as saying: "We say that recognising Palestinian statehood is a really important symbol that you can only do once. But if not now, then when?"
Likewise, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said in Parliament on Tuesday that the government should recognise Palestine "while there's still a state of Palestine left to recognise."
Israel's occupation of the West Bank, deemed illegal under international law and not recognised by the UK government, is being solidified with the increased expansion of Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory.
On Wednesday, the Israeli Knesset voted on a motion backing a future annexation of the West Bank, calling on the government to apply Israeli law over the territory.
Following the demands on the government, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said on LBC on Thursday that the government was committed to recognising a Palestinian state, but claimed that the government wants that recognition to be "meaningful."
"Now, at the minute, there is not a Palestinian state there. There is not political agreement between the two principal Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Gaza," he said.
The Labour Party committed to recognising Palestine in its election manifesto of 2024 as part of a wider peace process, rather than unilaterally. Government ministers have not said when this might occur other than as part of a commitment to a two-state solution.
Israel's horrific war on Gaza, which has led to mass starvation amid an Israeli siege, has caused increasing outrage in the UK, with calls on the government to do more to stop the war amid continued accusations of complicity with Israel.
The leader of the Liberal Democrat party Ed Davey called for the cessation of all arms exports to Israel on Wednesday.
The party's foreign affairs spokesperson Calum Miller called for the sanctioning of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, and senior Israeli military commanders.
Green Party MPs have also called on the government to act, with co-leader Carla Denyer accusing the government of tolerating Israel's actions on Tuesday by not extending sanctions or blocking further arms exports.
Other sections of UK civil society have joined in condemning Israel, with the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, issuing a statement against the killing.
"In the name of God, I cry out against this barbaric assault on human life and dignity," he said on Wednesday, adding that the UK and the other 27 states that signed a letter condemning Israel's actions in Gaza should act now to stop the war.
Cottrell is acting as the highest religious authority in the Church of England as it searches for a new Archbishop of Canterbury.
His calls were joined by 30 former UK ambassadors and 20 former senior UN diplomats who wrote a letter to Starmer calling for recognition of Palestine as a "foundational first step towards breaking the deadly status quo."
Israel's war on Gaza has killed 59,219 people and wounded a further 143,045, according to the Gaza health ministry. The true death toll is believed to be much higher and most of the enclave is now uninhabitable.
The continued Israeli siege and lack of aid entry has prompted over 111 humanitarian aid groups to warn about the mass starvation of Gaza's population.
On Thursday, the UK's national broadcaster, the BBC, warned alongside Reuters, AP, and AFP that its journalists in the enclave were at risk of starving to death, and called on Israel to allow international journalists to enter.