Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said he hopes the UK’s move to recognise a Palestinian state in September will “affect the situation on the ground” and lead to a ceasefire in Gaza.

The UK announced on Tuesday it would recognise a Palestinian state if Israel did not agree a ceasefire and take steps to end the war.

Speaking to the BBC’s Tom Bateman at the UN in New York, Lammy said the world had seen “the most horrific scenes” in Gaza and the time had come to “abate the suffering of the Palestinian people”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hit back at the UK’s decision, saying it rewarded “Hamas’s monstrous terrorism” and “appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails”.

The decision has also been criticised by opposition parties, with the Liberal Democrats saying recognition should happen right away, and the Conservatives and Reform UK arguing now is not the right time.

The UK government has previously said recognition of a Palestinian state should come at a point when it can have maximum impact, as part of a peace process.

Lammy said Tuesday’s announcement “puts us on a pathway towards recognition”.

“It is my sincere hope that the decision that we have taken today affects the situation on the ground, and we get to that ceasefire, we get to those hostages coming out as soon as possible,” he told the BBC.

Lammy added that the global community was “deeply offended by children being shot and killed as they reach out for aid” and called for the flow of medical equipment and supplies to be restored.

In a post on social media, Netanyahu suggested that recognising a Palestinian state was against the UK’s interests.

“A jihadist state on Israel’s border TODAY will threaten Britain TOMORROW,” he wrote on X.

“Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you too. It will not happen.”

Labour MP Dame Emily Thornberry welcomed the shift in UK policy as a “historic moment”.

“I have been calling on the government to take this step for months… we must not underestimate the significance of this move,” she said in a statement.

Dame Emily chairs the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, which just last week said the UK must act before there was no Palestinian state left on the ground to recognise.

She added: “Recognition is not a end by itself, it must be the first step to a long-term, two-state solution.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey was critical however, saying recognition should not be used as “a bargaining chip” to apply pressure to Israel and there should be no conditions attached.

“Rather than use recognition, which should have taken place many months ago, as a bargaining chip, the prime minister should be applying pressure on Israel by fully ceasing arms sales, and implementing sanctions against the Israeli cabinet,” he said.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said that, while she supported Palestinian statehood, doing it now would not solve the war or the humanitarian crisis.

“Recognising a Palestinian state won’t bring the hostages home, won’t end the war and won’t get aid into Gaza. This is political posturing at its very worst,” she said in a social media post.

Badenoch added that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was trying to fix a political problem in the Labour Party as he had faced mounting pressure from his own MPs.

Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf also criticised the government’s decision, telling the BBC’s Newsnight programme that it was a “political calculation” by the prime minister.

“What this does is to trivialise, quite offensively actually, a horrendous situation in Gaza,” he said.

In Tuesday’s address, Sir Keir said Israel must also meet other conditions, including agreeing to a ceasefire, committing to a long-term sustainable peace that delivers a two-state solution and allowing the UN to restart the supply of aid.

He added that Hamas must immediately release all hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza.

Cabinet minister Heidi Alexander was asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme whether Hamas releasing the hostages was a condition of the UK recognising a Palestinian state, similar to the conditions on Israel.

“We will be making an assessment in September and we expect Hamas to act in the same way we expect Israel to act,” said the transport secretary.

Sir Keir has recently faced significant pressure both home and abroad to recognise a Palestinian state.

Some 255 MPs have signed a letter calling for the government to immediately recognise a Palestinian state – including more than half of Labour MPs.

On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron committed to recognising Palestinian statehood within months.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 60,034 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.