JERUSALEM/GAZA. The British government intends to recognize a Palestinian state in September if Israel does not take"substantial steps" to improve the situation in the Gaza Strip.

This includes agreeing to a ceasefire, Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the cabinet on Tuesday. Israel must also not annex the occupied West Bank. Britain would then be the second G7 country to recognize a Palestinian state.

"I have always said that we will recognize a Palestinian state as a contribution to a peace process at the moment when it will have the greatest impact on the two-state solution," Starmer said."With that solution now under threat, it is time to act."

UN General Debate in September

Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he would officially recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September. Germany has not yet done so and, according to the German government in Berlin, does not plan to recognize a Palestinian state"in the short term."