Palestinian state. More than a third of MPs — including over half of Labour’s parliamentary ranks — have signed a letter urging formal recognition.

The BBC understands that a small team of British military planners and logisticians is being deployed to assist Jordan with coordinating aid deliveries. On Friday, Israel said it would permit foreign countries to conduct airdrops in the coming days, amid growing international alarm over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Starmer, writing in The Mirror, said the UK was “urgently accelerating efforts” to evacuate critically ill children to Britain for medical treatment. “News that Israel will allow countries to airdrop aid into Gaza has come far too late — but we will do everything we can to get aid in via this route,” he said.

The push for aid coincides with intensifying calls for the UK to recognise Palestinian statehood. French President Emmanuel Macron pledged on Friday to do so “within months.” The cross-party letter signed by 220 MPs — spearheaded by Labour’s Sarah Champion, chair of the International Development Select Committee — argued that recognition would send a “powerful” message and represent a vital step toward a two-state solution.

Champion told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday that “the clock is really ticking” for the international community. “We really need to do it while there is the possibility of there being a state of Palestine… and that is not going to be there for much longer,” she said.

Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, has condemned recognition plans, calling them a “prize for terror” in the wake of the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023. (BBC)