Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to announce on Sunday(September 21)  that the United Kingdom will formally recognize a Palestinian state, in what would mark a major shift in British foreign policy.

The decision follows a pledge Starmer made in July to take action in September unless Israel agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza and committed to a sustainable peace process leading to a two-state solution, according to the BBC.

Successive British governments have maintained that recognition should come only as part of peace negotiations and at a time of maximum diplomatic impact. Ministers now argue that the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the rapid expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank demand urgent action.

“The recognition of a Palestinian state is as a consequence of the serious expansion that we’re seeing in the West Bank, the settler violence, and the intention to build, for example, the E1 development,” Justice Secretary David Lammy said.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the pledge during a visit to London earlier this month. Downing Street said both sides had agreed that Hamas would have no role in future Palestinian governance.

Israel has strongly opposed the move. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has argued that it “rewards terror,” while families of hostages taken by Hamas urged Starmer in an open letter not to act until all captives are released.

Opposition voices in the UK have also criticised the timing. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, writing in The Telegraph, warned that recognition “without the release of the hostages would be a reward for terrorism.” Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis also called for a pause, saying the government was moving ahead without assurances on democratic governance or hostage release.

Government officials, however, insist that demands for Hamas to free hostages remain unchanged, but argue Palestinian statehood is a right that cannot be made contingent on the group, which Britain designates as a terrorist organization.

“I’ve always said we will recognize a Palestinian state as a contribution to a proper peace process, at the moment of maximum impact for the two-state solution,” Starmer said in July. “With that solution now under threat, this is the moment to act.”

The UK move would follow similar steps taken by Spain, Ireland and Norway last year. So far, about 140 of the 193 United Nations member states have formally recognised Palestine.

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