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 won’t 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 Washington 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 in September, 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 his golf resort in Turnberry, Scotland on Monday, 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,” the president said.
Last week, Trump had struck a more dismissive tone against French President Emmanuel Macron, 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.
Hamas has so far refused to give up remaining 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 negotiations broke down last week.
Over the weekend, Israel began allowing airdrops of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
On Monday, Trump publicly cast doubt on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s denial that there was 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.”
