By Palestine Chronicle Staff 
Britain will consider recognizing a Palestinian state which will build a “political horizon” for the Palestinians, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said.
Speaking to the Conservative Middle East Council in the House of Commons on Monday night, Cameron said that Britain has “a responsibility there because we should be starting to set out what a Palestinian state would look like – what it would comprise, how it would work,” the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported.
“That could be one of the things that helps to make this process irreversible,” he added, referring to a two-state solution.
New: @David_Cameron suggests UK could bring forward moment when it recognises a Palestinian state. Says Palestinians must have “a political horizon so that they can see that there is going to be irreversible progress to a two state solution”. https://t.co/HnuJRFoeZV
— James Landale (@BBCJLandale) January 30, 2024
Sustainable Ceasefire
Cameron also said that there are “hopeful signs” about the ongoing negotiations to achieve a truce. The real challenge, he said, is to “turn that pause into a sustainable ceasefire without a return to the fighting”.
This is why, according to the Foreign Secretary, it is time to “deliver the longer term political solution.”
“Although it is incredibly difficult, although efforts in the past have failed, we cannot give up,” he noted. According to the British newspaper The Independent, “Palestinian ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot described the statements as ‘significant’ – but some senior Conservatives warned Rishi Sunak’s foreign secretary not to push too far or too fast.”
Fellow senior Tory Michael Ellis, for example, reportedly said the move could risk equipping “dangerous actors” with the “trimmings and capabilities of a state”.
Although Western leaders maintain that a two-state solution is still possible and would be the only long-term path to peace, Israeli leaders strongly disagree.
In a televised message on January 18, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that Israel “must have security control over all the territory west of the Jordan (River),” saying he had made this clear to Israel’s “American friends”.
“This is a necessary condition, and it conflicts with the idea of (Palestinian) sovereignty,” Netanyahu said in a televised news conference.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
