Key events<\/p>\n
Show key events only<\/p>\n
Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n
Trevor Phillips pressed David Lammy over whether or not there will be any conditions for Hamas, the Palestinian militant group Israel says are being rewarded by the British government\u2019s plan to recognise Palestinian statehood.<\/p>\n
Lammy said:<\/p>\n
\nWe have been crystal clear. Hamas is a terrorist organisation. There can be no role for Hamas, actually, as a consequence of the decision that we made back at the end of July, we saw the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League be crystal clear that there can be no role for Hamas the first time they had done that. So we\u2019re absolutely clear they are terrorists, they should release the hostages. That is unequivocal.<\/p>\n
But notwithstanding that Trevor, and this is an important point, when we talk about a Palestinian state, and any step to recognise it is because we wish to keep alive the prospects of a two state solution. That is what is in jeopardy. That\u2019s not just about Gaza. It\u2019s also about the West Bank, settler violence and expansion.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Hamas, a Palestinian militant group and political movement in the Gaza Strip, has been the sole ruler in the Gaza Strip since 2007 and is designated as a terrorist organisation by many countries, including the UK, the US and Israel. Israel has said Hamas cannot have any involvement in the postwar governance of Gaza, something the British government has also said.<\/p>\n
The Palestinian Authority is an interim body that governs the occupied West Bank and recognises Israel. It is unpopular with many people living in the West Bank. Arab powers, the UK and European countries have previously signalled that they want the PA to take a central role in the administration of Gaza once Israel\u2019s war ends, though they agree it needs reform.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n
Updated at\u00a004.32 EDT<\/p>\n
The prospect of a ceasefire in Gaza ‘lays in tatters’, Lammy says, as he defends recognition move<\/p>\n
The deputy prime minister, David Lammy<\/strong>, is speaking to Sky News\u2019 Trevor Phillips this morning on behalf of the government.<\/p>\n
Lammy, who will represent the UK at the general assembly, has said a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel \u201clays in tatters\u201d after Israel carried out an airstrike on a Hamas negotiating team in Qatar<\/a> at the start of the month, and the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are illegal under international law.<\/p>\n
Qatar, a close US ally, has been hosting negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Gaza<\/a> war, and plays a key role as an intermediary.<\/p>\n
The former foreign secretary told Sky News:<\/p>\n
\nWell, since that announcement in July, in fact, with the attack on Qatar, a ceasefire at this point lays in tatters, and the prospects are bleak.<\/p>\n
And of course, we\u2019ve also seen Israel move forward with an E1 development which would run a coach and horses between both the north and south West bank and ensure that we do not get to two states. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Lammy condemned Israel\u2019s so-called E1 plan, a highly controversial and illegal project for more than 3,400 new homes which would effectively split the occupied West Bank<\/a> in half.<\/p>\n
As my colleague Peter Beaumont explains in this story<\/a>, the plan would extend the existing Jewish settlement of Ma\u2019ale Adumim towards Jerusalem, further cutting occupied east Jerusalem from the West Bank, and further separating the north and south of the territory.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich \u2013 who backs both the plan and the imposition of Israeli sovereignty through the occupied West Bank \u2013 gloated that he believed construction on E1 would \u201cbury the idea of a Palestinian state\u201d.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n
Updated at\u00a004.14 EDT<\/p>\n
What does recognition of Palestinian statehood entail practically?<\/p>\n
The Guardian\u2019s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, has done a useful explainer<\/a> with a section looking at what recognising Palestine would look like in practice. Here is an extract:<\/p>\n
\nRecognition is largely symbolic. When the UK\u2019s position was announced the then foreign secretary, David Lammy, said: \u201cIt will not change the position on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it allows the UK to enter treaties with Palestine and would mean that the Palestine head of mission becomes a fully recognised ambassador. <\/p>\n
Some argue that a greater onus would be placed on the UK to boycott goods imported into the UK by Israel that come from the occupied territories. <\/p>\n
But it is seen more as a statement on Palestine\u2019s future, and disapproval of Israel\u2019s refusal to negotiate a Palestinian state\u2026<\/p>\n
There are genuine fears that Israel is about to annex the West Bank or make Gaza so uninhabitable that Palestinians are forced over the borders into Jordan or Egypt, so destroying the possibility of a Palestinian homeland. <\/p>\n
Recognition that Palestine is a state with the right to self-determination is an attempt to show Israel cannot simply annex land that the international court of justice has declared to be illegally occupied.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Share<\/a>Keir Starmer set to announce UK recognition of Palestinian state later today<\/p>\n
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics.<\/p>\n