A government minister has denied that plans to recognise Palestine are in breach of international law, after an influential group of peers wrote to the attorney general to warn against the move.
Some 38 members of the House of Lords, including some of the UK’s most eminent lawyers, wrote to Lord Hermer warning that Sir Keir’s pledge may be unlawful as the territory may not meet the criteria for statehood under the Montevideo Convention, a treaty signed in 1933.
But business minister Gareth Thomas denied that the UK would be in breach of international law, pointing out that the UK is not signed up to the Montevideo Convention.
“I respect the views of those lawyers, but in the end, recognition of a state is a political judgment, and we've been very clear that our judgment is that the Palestinians have an inalienable right to statehood,” he told Sky News.
He added: “I don't think we are in breach of international law. We're not signed up to the Montevideo Convention. We're clear what needs to happen.
“And as I say, the fact that so many other countries have either already recognised the state of Palestine, or are joining our efforts to recognise the state of Palestine, I think is very significant.”
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer issued Israel with an ultimatum, pledging to recognise Palestine if Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration fails to take steps to end the war in Gaza by September.
The UK will only refrain from recognising Palestine if Israel allows more aid into Gaza, stops annexing land in the West Bank, agrees to a ceasefire, and signs up to a long-term peace process over the next two months.
Hamas must immediately release all remaining Israeli hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and “accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza,” Sir Keir also said.
But in their letter to Lord Hermer, the peers said Palestine “does not meet the international law criteria for recognition of a state, namely, defined territory, a permanent population, an effective government and the capacity to enter into relations with other states”.
There is no certainty over the borders of Palestine they said, and no single government, as Hamas and Fatah are enemies.
Lord Hermer has previously insisted that a commitment to international law “goes absolutely to the heart” of the government’s approach to foreign policy.
In their letter, seen by the PA news agency, the peers added: “You have said that a selective, ‘pick and mix’ approach to international law will lead to its disintegration, and that the criteria set out in international law should not be manipulated for reasons of political expedience.
“Accordingly, we expect you to demonstrate this commitment by explaining to the public and to the government that recognition of Palestine would be contrary to the principles governing recognition of states in international law.”
Among the respected lawyers to have signed the letter are Lord Pannick, who represented the previous government at the Supreme Court over its Rwanda scheme, as well as KCs Lord Verdirame and Lord Faulks.
Some of parliament’s most prominent Jewish voices, including crossbench peer Baroness Deech, Labour’s Lord Winston and the Conservatives’ Baroness Altmann, have also put their name to the letter.
The peers’ intervention follows condemnation of Sir Keir’s announcement by Emily Damari, a British-Israeli woman who was held captive by Hamas for more than a year.
The PM is “not standing on the right side of history” after his pledge to recognise a Palestinian state, she said.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, claimed it “rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism”.
But ministers have insisted the step is important and is not an example of gesture politics.
“This is about the Palestinian people. It’s about getting aid to those starving children,” transport secretary Heidi Alexander said on Wednesday morning.
Asked directly whether the release of hostages by Hamas is an explicit condition of Palestinian recognition, Ms Alexander told BBC Radio 4: “We will be making an assessment in September and we expect Hamas to act in the same way as we expect Israel to act.”
She later added: “We’re giving Israel eight weeks to act. If they want to be sat at the table to shape that enduring peace in the region, they must act.”
Sir Keir had been coming under pressure from MPs to recognise statehood, and last week more than 250 cross-party members signed a letter calling on him to act.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Palestine Action’s co-founder won a bid to bring a High Court challenge over the group’s ban as a terror organisation.
Huda Ammori is challenging Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s decision to proscribe the group under anti-terror laws, announced after the group claimed responsibility for action in which two Voyager planes were damaged at RAF Brize Norton on June 20.
