"As part of this process towards peace I can confirm the UK will recognise the state of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a Two State Solution," Starmer said.

Sending out a strong message to Hamas, he asked the group to release the remaining hostages held in their captivity.

"They must immediately release all the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza," the PM said.

He said: "We will make an assessment in September on how far the parties have met these steps."

Widespread starvation in Gaza

“The worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in Gaza,” UN-backed food security experts said on Tuesday, in a call to action amid unrelenting conflict, mass displacement and the near-total collapse of essential services in the war-battered enclave.

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) platform, two out of three famine thresholds have been reached in Gaza: plummeting food consumption and acute malnutrition. Famine has not been declared as the third criteria, deaths from malnutrition, cannot be demonstrated.

There is mounting evidence that “widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease” are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths, which is the third famine indicator.

“It's clearly a disaster unfolding in front of our eyes, in front of our television screens,” said Ross Smith, UN World Food Programme (WFP) director of emergencies.

“This is not a warning, this is a call to action. This is unlike anything we have seen in this century,” he told journalists in Geneva.

In New York, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the alert “confirms what we have feared”, namely that Gaza is on the brink of famine.

“The facts are in, and they are undeniable,” he stated.

“Palestinians in Gaza are enduring a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. This is not a warning. It is a reality unfolding before our eyes.”

Days without food

The context to the alert is stark: one in three people is now going without food for days at a time, the IPC said. Hospitals are also overwhelmed and have treated more than 20,000 children for acute malnutrition since April. At least 16 children under five have died from hunger-related causes since mid-July.

The alert follows a May 2025 IPC analysis that projected catastrophic levels of food insecurity for the entire population by September. According to the platform’s experts, at least half a million people are expected to be in IPC Phase 5 – catastrophe – which is marked by starvation, destitution and death.

The crisis is driven by nearly two years of conflict sparked by Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel in October 2023 that left some 1,250 dead and around 250 people taken hostage.

Heavy fighting has killed thousands and destroyed 70 per cent of Gaza’s infrastructure. Echoing aid agencies’ longstanding concerns for non-combatants, the IPC assessment confirmed that displacement is rampant, with safe areas reduced to less than 12 per cent of the entire territory.