The UK will recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire and a two-state solution in Gaza, Sir Keir Starmer has vowed. The prime minister said Benjamin Netanyahu’s government must end its starvation tactics and allow the supply of aid into the embattled enclave after a UN-backed food security body said the “worst-case scenario of famine” was playing out in the territory.

Britain announced on Tuesday it was prepared to recognise a Palestinian state in September unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the "appalling situation" in Gaza and meets other conditions.

Sir Keir Starmer says the UK will recognise Palestine as a state unless Israel agrees to end the "appalling situation in Gaza", but Israel says the decision constitutes "a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a ceasefire".

France told a UN conference co-chaired with Saudi Arabia on Monday that there is "no alternative" to a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.

Starmer says he would take the step at a UN meeting in September - but Israel accuses the UK of harming "efforts to achieve a ceasefire".

France has announced it will recognize the state of Palestine, a move that could shift discussions about the Middle East's future.