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WASHINGTON — President Trump warned Tuesday that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state in September if the Israeli government fails to meet certain conditions could reward Hamas and stressed that the US would not follow suit.
“You could make the case that you’re rewarding Hamas if you do that,” Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One en route to the US from Scotland. “I’m not about to do that.”
Earlier in the day, Starmer committed to granting Palestine UK recognition during the United Nations General Assembly, following in the footsteps of France, unless Israel takes “substantive steps” to remedy humanitarian concerns in the Gaza Strip and agrees to a long-term plan for a two-state solution.
Trump, who met with Starmer at the former’s golf resort in Turnberry, Scotland on Monday to discuss a range of issues, including concerns about starvation in the Gaza Strip, said that the British PM didn’t tell him of his plan beforehand.
“We never did discuss it, and we have no view on that. We’re going to get a lot of money to the area so they can get some food,” Trump said when asked about Starmer’s recognition plan.
Last week, Trump took a more dismissive tone against French President Emmanuel Macron after he said Paris would recognize Palestine, with the US president chiding that “what he says doesn’t matter” and that the move didn’t “carry any weight.”
Starmer, Macron and other Western leaders have sought to ramp up pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid to flow into the war-torn enclave amid troubling images of starved children in Gaza.
The British PM also clarified that his ultimatum to Israel includes “allowing the UN to restart the supply of aid and making clear that there will be no annexations in the West Bank.”
Hamas has so far refused to give up the last of the up to 20 living Israeli hostages to end the war and allow for a cease-fire, which many officials believe would make distributing aid in Gaza much more doable. The latest round of talks to halt the fighting broke down last week..
Over the weekend, Israel began allowing airdrops of humanitarian supplies inside Gaza and announced plans to establish safe routes for aid delivery.
An estimated 120 trucks of aid moved into the enclave on Monday, far fewer than the minimum of 500 trucks per day the UN says are needed.
On Monday, Trump publicly cast doubt on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s denial of mass starvation in Gaza and said that the US intends to send more food to the Palestinians there.
“Those are kids that are starving,” Trump reflected Tuesday en route back to the US. “You see the mothers. They love them so much. There’s just nothing they seem to be able to do. They got to get them food, and we’re going to get them food.”
Over the weekend, Netanyahu called it a “bold-faced lie” to suggest that Israel was purposefully conducting a starvation campaign in the Gaza Strip to extract concessions from Hamas.
“There is no policy of starvation in Gaza. And there is no starvation in Gaza,” the PM said on Sunday.
Trump also announced plans on Monday to “set up food centers” in Gaza and lamented the images of malnourished children he saw coming out of the beleaguered enclave.
