US President Donald Trump said Thursday he disagreed with Prime Minister Keir Starmer over Britain’s plan to recognise a Palestinian state, after the leaders discussed the war in Gaza.
“I have a disagreement with the prime minister on that score — one of our few disagreements,” Trump said at a press conference with Starmer at the UK prime minister’s country residence Chequers on the second full day of his state visit.
Starmer announced in July that Britain would take steps to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September unless Israel met certain conditions including reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.
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The issue proved to be one of the few sticking points in an otherwise united front put forward by Starmer and Trump during the press conference.
The United States has adamantly rejected the notion of countries recognising a Palestinian state, even as France, Canada and other western allies are set to take the step at the United Nations next week.
The leaders also discussed the deteriorating situation in Gaza during their meeting, according to Starmer, who said they were in agreement on “the need for peace and a road map”.
“I want an end. I want the hostages released,” said Trump, calling the war “complex” but avoiding directly answering multiple questions about whether he would urge his ally Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end Israeli bombing in Gaza.
Starmer called the situation in Gaza “intolerable” and stressed the “need to get aid into Gaza at speed”.
He added that recognising Palestinian statehood would be part of a larger “plan for peace” including ensuring Hamas played no part in its governance, without providing additional details about when formal recognition would come.
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UK media reported Thursday that Starmer could finalise plans to recognise a Palestinian state as early as this weekend, ahead of the UN summit.
Of the 251 people taken hostage by Palestinian militants in October 2023, 47 remain in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.
The Hamas attack also resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 65,141 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
