The UK will recognise Palestine as a state next month even if Hamas fails to release its remaining Israeli hostages, Sir Keir Starmer suggested yesterday. Amid a growing backlash over the Prime Minister’s pledge – plus warnings that he could be breaking international law – he refused to back calls to make a hostage deal a main condition of recognition. Earlier this week Sir Keir announced the UK will recognise a Palestinian state before the UN general assembly in New York next month unless Israel meets a raft of conditions, including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza. The decision was condemned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said it rewarded ‘Hamas’s monstrous terrorism’ – the group is still believed to be holding up to 50 hostages, many of whom were abducted during the attack on October 7, 2023, although only 20 are believed to still be alive. Sir Keir was asked yesterday whether he would still recognise a Palestinian state in September – a hugely diplomatic and symbolic move – even if Hamas refuses to release more hostages. Instead of a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’, he replied: ‘Those hostages need to be released immediately – they have been held for a very long time in intolerable conditions. ‘So that absolutely needs to happen. And the situation on the ground in Gaza needs to change – there is a humanitarian catastrophe. And that’s why I have said unless that changes materially – and obviously we will assess that as we get to September – then we will recognise Palestine.’ The PM insisted he ‘particularly’ listens to freed hostages, after he was accused of ‘moral failure’ over his move by Emily Damari, a British-Israeli woman who had been held captive by Hamas . The PM told ITV he was ‘absolutely clear that we must have the remaining hostages released – that’s been our position throughout and I absolutely understand the unimaginable horror that Emily went through’. It came as some of the UK’s most eminent lawyers wrote to the Attorney General, Lord Hermer, to warn that Sir Keir’s pledge of recognition could undermine his commitment to upholding the law. Some 38 members of the House of Lords – among them seven KCs – said recognising Palestine may not meet the criteria for statehood under the Montevideo Convention, a treaty signed in 1933. In their letter, the peers said Palestine ‘does not meet the international law criteria for recognition of a state, namely, defined territory, a permanent population, an effective government and the capacity to enter into relations with other states’. There is no certainty over the borders of Palestine, they said, and no single government. The peers added: ‘You have said that a selective, “pick and mix” approach to international law will lead to its disintegration, and that the criteria set out in international law should not be manipulated for reasons of political expedience. 'Accordingly, we expect you to demonstrate this commitment by explaining to the public and to the Government that recognition of Palestine would be contrary to the principles governing recognition of states in international law.’ Business minister Gareth Thomas described the decision on Palestine as a ‘political judgment’ and that ministers ‘believe it is’ compliant with international law.