The New York Times, July 2025
Britain on Tuesday said it would recognize a Palestinian state if Israel did not strike a cease-fire deal with Hamas by September. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s move followed France’s announcement last week that it would officially acknowledge Palestine statehood. Both announcements reflect the deep frustrations by both nations with Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, analysts say, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and left a population of about two million in a state of extreme privation and hunger.
They also came in response to Israel’s actions in the occupied West Bank: Its military activity there has displaced Palestinians en masse this year, settlement plans have expanded, and violence by settlers against Palestinians has risen since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel ignited the war. That assault killed about 1,200 people and led to the abduction of about 250 others to Gaza. The announcements raise questions about what the recognition of a Palestinian state would mean and what it can actually do.
The criteria for statehood were laid out in an international treaty in 1933. They include four elements: a permanent population, defined territorial boundaries, a government and an ability to conduct international affairs. Recognition is an official acknowledgment that a would-be state broadly meets those conditions. It can occur even if an element is in dispute, including territorial boundaries. Like all legal questions, “interpretation matters,” said Zinaida Miller, a professor of law and international affairs at Northeastern University. The criteria for recognizing a Palestinian state have been met at a basic level, many experts on international law say.
