Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Keir Starmer of rewarding Hamas’s terrorism with the UK’s change in stance on Palestinian statehood. Follow the latest.
Tuesday 29 July 2025 20:55, UK
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By Sally Lockwood, Sky correspondent
“Children are eating out of piles of garbage” – that was the answer from UNICEF’s Salim Oweis when I asked if aid was now getting to those who need it.
The phone call was intended for background to try to get a clearer idea of the latest aid distribution in Gaza, but it’s a conversation I won’t forget.
“Parents are crushing whatever they can into water, most likely unclean water, because there is no infant milk or formula. The reports are horrific,” says Salim.
“Our colleagues are struggling to find enough food for themselves.”
It’s been three days since Israel announced humanitarian pauses to allow aid to get to starving people in Gaza but it’s not yet being felt on the ground.
I’m told more aid trucks have entered Kerem Shalom – the border crossing between Gaza and Israel – but that’s only the first stage of the journey.
The aid then needs to be collected and brought inside the Gaza Strip, then taken to partners on the ground for distribution.
It’s a lengthy process, and it needs to be accelerated with urgency.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has criticised Sir Keir Starmer over the UK’s decision to recognise Palestinian statehood in September unless Israel ends its war in Gaza.
He says the British PM’s decision “rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism” and “punishes its victims”.
“A jihadist state on Israel’s border today will threaten Britain tomorrow,” he says.
“Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you too. It will not happen.”
Downing Street has released a readout of Sir Keir Starmer’s call with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
A spokeswoman says Starmer began the call earlier today by repeating his support for Israel, calling for the remaining Israeli hostages to be released by Hamas, and condemning the terror group’s attack on 7 October 2023.
But he said the situation in Gaza had become “intolerable” and urged Netanyahu to “take immediate action to lift all restrictions on aid access and get those suffering in Gaza the food they need”.
He also shared with him his plan to recognise Palestine.
Starmer also spoke to the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, who welcomed the recognition plan.
Other calls took place with the King of Jordan and the prime minister of Canada, with more to follow.
David Lammy says the global community is “deeply offended” by images from Gaza of children “being shot and killed” while seeking aid.
Speaking to reporters in New York after addressing a UN summit on a two-state solution, the British foreign secretary described the scenes as “horrific”.
“The time has come to see those hostages released, and the time has come to abate the suffering of the Palestinian people, to get them the aid and medical equipment and supplies they need,” he added.
‘No country has a veto on UK’
Taking questions from reporters, Lammy says he won’t reveal whether Sir Keir Starmer informed Donald Trump of his plans to recognise Palestinian statehood.
He also said that “no country has a veto on solemn decisions that we make in the United Kingdom.”
The director of the British Palestinian Committee has described the prime minister’s statement on Gaza as “absurd”.
Dr Sara Husseini said the prospective September date for recognising Palestine means nothing while Israel “continues to exterminate and starve women, men, and children”.
Israel has repeatedly denied it is carrying out a genocide in Gaza, or withholding aid. Its government has regularly accused Hamas of stealing food intended for civilians.
Donald Trump defended Israel’s handling of the crisis in Gaza on Air Force One earlier (see our previous post for more on that).
But still speaking to reporters on the presidential plane, Trump has expressed his horror at seeing pictures of starving children there.
The US president was asked if his wife Melania had spoken to him about the crisis. He recently revealed how she influenced his thinking on the Ukraine war, when she was shocked by Russian airstrikes on civilians.
Trump replied the first lady “thinks it’s terrible”, and added everybody thinks the same “unless you’re coldhearted”.
“There’s nothing you can say other than it’s terrible,” he continued.
“Those are kids that are starving… they’ve got to get them food,” he added.
Donald Trump says he never discussed the UK’s plan to recognise Palestinian statehood with Sir Keir Starmer, adding the US is “not in that camp”.
The president, heading back to Washington after visiting Scotland over the weekend, said Starmer’s statement was similar to France’s Emmanuel Macron.
“He’s basically saying the same thing [as Macron] and that’s OK. It doesn’t mean I have to agree.”
Trump also said his administration will be dealing with Israel on creating food centres in Gaza.
He told reporters he spoke with Benjamin Netanyahu two days ago and the Israeli PM “wants to make sure money is spent well and food is distributed properly” in Gaza.
“I think Israel wants to do it, actually,” he says. “I can tell you they want to do it, they don’t want Hamas stealing the money or stealing the food. If they do it and they really want to do it, they’ll do a good job.”
Israel has criticised the UK’s plans to recognise Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly in September.
Its foreign ministry says the decision is a “reward for Hamas” and hurts efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.
Here’s the statement in full:
The shift in the British government’s position at this time, following the French move and internal political pressures, constitutes a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of hostages.
Palestinian statehood should not be “dangled like a bargaining chip” to get the Israeli government to cease its assault on Gaza, charity ActionAid UK says.
“A Palestinian state is not a threat to frighten the Israeli government into action after 21 months of relentless war and destruction, it is an unconditional and inalienable right to self-determination,” Hannah Bond, ActionAid UK’s co-CEO, says.
She says the UK government must use “every diplomatic lever available” to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza.
“That includes halting all arms transfers to the Israeli government and imposing sanctions, immediately.”
Sir Keir Starmer’s announcement that the UK plans to recognise Palestinian statehood in September is likely to elicit a “very strong and very negative reaction” from Israel, Sky News correspondent Sally Lockwood says.
Speaking from Jerusalem, Lockwood says the “furious” reaction from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over France’s decision to recognise the state of Palestine suggests a similar response will be coming London’s way.
“When other countries have made these moves, like France, Israel has said that it rewards terrorism and that it threatens to create another Iranian proxy – a state that would want to annihilate Israel,” Lockwood says.
“So it’s fair to say this will have a very negative reaction here from the Israeli government.”
She adds that it seems that Israel and its traditional allies are now moving in opposite directions in terms of their plans for how to create peace in Gaza.
“It’s very hard at that moment to see how these two sides will reach any sort of agreement when it comes to the future of Palestinians in this region.”
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