Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Wall Street Hits Over One-Week Low on Tariff Uncertainty, Data in Focus

7 hours ago

US Judge Blocks Trump Administration’s Use of Troops in Los Angeles

8 hours ago

Garnet Fire in Fresno County Grows to 26,982 Acres, 12% Contained

8 hours ago

US Construction Spending Dips in July

8 hours ago

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Signs Law Redrawing Congressional Maps

4 days ago

US Air Force will Offer Military Funeral Honors to Slain Capitol Rioter

4 days ago

US Republican Senator Joni Ernst Will Not Run for Re-Election, CBS News Reports

4 days ago

Minneapolis Children Revealed Courage, Absorbed Fear During Church Shooting

5 days ago
Recognition of Palestinian State Would Spur Sprint Towards Two-State Solution, Envoy Says
Reuters logo
By Reuters
Published 5 hours ago on
September 2, 2025

Head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK Husam Zomlot speaks at an event in Chatham House, in London, Britain, September 2, 2025. (Reuters/Hannah McKay)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

LONDON — The recognition of a Palestinian state by leading Western nations will trigger a sprint towards a two-state solution, the head of the Palestinian mission in London said on Tuesday.

Britain, France, Canada, Australia and Belgium have all said they will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, although London could halt the process if Israel eased the humanitarian crisis in war-shattered Gaza and committed to a long-term peace process.

The moves are designed to put pressure on Israel to end its assault on Gaza and curtail the building of new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, but some question whether recognition is merely symbolic.

“I think it will be the starting gun for what we hope to be a sprint, not even a march, towards implementing the two-state solution, and we are hoping for an active, effective, meaningful role by the United Kingdom,” Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestinian Mission in London, told Reuters.

Israel, facing a global outcry over its conduct in the Gaza war, has reacted angrily to recognition gestures, saying they would reward Hamas. The Palestinian militant group’s gunmen attacked southern Israeli communities near the border on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages into Gaza, according to Israeli figures.

A two-state solution is the idea that the two sides could co-exist in peace alongside each other – a Palestinian state on territory Israel captured in a 1967 war, with the Gaza Strip and West Bank linked by a corridor through Israel.

But the proposal has become less viable over time, as Israel has accelerated the building of Jewish settlements in occupied territory, while the two sides stick to uncompromising positions on core issues including borders, the fate of Palestinian refugees, and the status of Jerusalem.

Zomlot said the move by Britain was significant due to its role in endorsing a “national home for the Jewish people in Palestine” in 1917. He said it was not too late to achieve a two-state solution, and that he hoped the momentum being built at the U.N. would lead Israel to dismantle its settlements.

“Once we create sufficient pressure – meaningful pressure – I assure you, it is absolutely possible,” he said.

The United Nations’ highest court said in 2024 Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and its settlements there are illegal and should be withdrawn as soon as possible.

Israel’s right-wing government rules out a Palestinian state and says the territories where settlements have expanded are not occupied in legal terms because they are on disputed lands. It cites biblical and historical ties to those lands.

(Reporting by Kate Holton; additional reporting by Muvija M; editing by Mark Heinrich)

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

AI Will Require 60% of Workers to Retrain. Are Fresno Colleges Ready?

DON'T MISS

How One Blackstone Avenue Shelter Took Business Owners’ Concerns to Heart

DON'T MISS

They Were Convicted of Gang Crimes. New CA Supreme Court Rulings Trim Their Sentences

DON'T MISS

Former Fresno Councilmember and Assemblymember Mike Briggs Dies After Cancer Battle

DON'T MISS

US Congress Returns, With One Month to Avert Government Shutdown

DON'T MISS

Trump Says His Administration Will Ask Supreme Court for Expedited Ruling on Tariffs

DON'T MISS

Trump Says He’s Committed to Sending National Guard Troops to Chicago

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest Teen After Traffic Stop Leads to Foot Chase, Firearm Recovery

DON'T MISS

Trump Dismisses Rumors He Is in Ill Health, Calls Them ‘Fake’

DON'T MISS

US Appeals Court Allows Trump’s EPA to Nix Climate Grants

UP NEXT

How One Blackstone Avenue Shelter Took Business Owners’ Concerns to Heart

UP NEXT

Former Fresno Councilmember and Assemblymember Mike Briggs Dies After Cancer Battle

UP NEXT

US Congress Returns, With One Month to Avert Government Shutdown

UP NEXT

Trump Says His Administration Will Ask Supreme Court for Expedited Ruling on Tariffs

UP NEXT

Trump Says He’s Committed to Sending National Guard Troops to Chicago

UP NEXT

Fresno Police Arrest Teen After Traffic Stop Leads to Foot Chase, Firearm Recovery

UP NEXT

Trump Dismisses Rumors He Is in Ill Health, Calls Them ‘Fake’

UP NEXT

US Appeals Court Allows Trump’s EPA to Nix Climate Grants

UP NEXT

Rubio Says US Military Conducted Lethal Strike Against Drug Vessel From Venezuela

UP NEXT

Trump Says He Is ‘Very Disappointed’ With Putin Over Ukraine

Former Fresno Councilmember and Assemblymember Mike Briggs Dies After Cancer Battle

1 hour ago

US Congress Returns, With One Month to Avert Government Shutdown

2 hours ago

Trump Says His Administration Will Ask Supreme Court for Expedited Ruling on Tariffs

2 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Committed to Sending National Guard Troops to Chicago

2 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Teen After Traffic Stop Leads to Foot Chase, Firearm Recovery

2 hours ago

Trump Dismisses Rumors He Is in Ill Health, Calls Them ‘Fake’

2 hours ago

US Appeals Court Allows Trump’s EPA to Nix Climate Grants

3 hours ago

Rubio Says US Military Conducted Lethal Strike Against Drug Vessel From Venezuela

3 hours ago

Trump Says He Is ‘Very Disappointed’ With Putin Over Ukraine

3 hours ago

Letter to the Editor: CSU Chancellor’s Silence on Joe Castro’s Passing ‘Is Appalling’

3 hours ago

AI Will Require 60% of Workers to Retrain. Are Fresno Colleges Ready?

When the internet first became publicly available, it took seven years to reach 50 million users, said Blake Konzcal, executive director of ...

13 minutes ago

13 minutes ago

AI Will Require 60% of Workers to Retrain. Are Fresno Colleges Ready?

34 minutes ago

How One Blackstone Avenue Shelter Took Business Owners’ Concerns to Heart

The California Supreme Court (CalMatters/File)
48 minutes ago

They Were Convicted of Gang Crimes. New CA Supreme Court Rulings Trim Their Sentences

Mike Briggs
1 hour ago

Former Fresno Councilmember and Assemblymember Mike Briggs Dies After Cancer Battle

The U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., as the death toll from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic exceeds 100,000 victims, May 27, 2020. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

US Congress Returns, With One Month to Avert Government Shutdown

President Donald Trump leaves, following a cabinet meeting, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 26, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

Trump Says His Administration Will Ask Supreme Court for Expedited Ruling on Tariffs

A subway train travels on an elevated track above the Wells Street bridge in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., August 25, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Committed to Sending National Guard Troops to Chicago

A 17-year-old on probation was arrested in southwest Fresno after fleeing a traffic stop and discarding a loaded firearm, police said on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (Fresno PD)
2 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Teen After Traffic Stop Leads to Foot Chase, Firearm Recovery

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend