British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will recall his cabinet from their summer break to discuss the situation in Gaza, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, amid growing pressure on the Labour government to recognize a Palestinian state.
Starmer's office did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment on the report.
The paper reported that Downing Street announced the move to recall his cabinet of ministers for next week on Sunday. The UK Parliament and Cabinet are currently in recess until September 1.
The recall comes after Starmer said on Friday the British government would recognize a Palestinian state only as part of a negotiated peace deal, disappointing many in his Labour Party who want him to follow France in taking swifter action.
President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France would recognize a Palestinian state. This plan drew strong condemnation from Israel and the United States, after similar moves from Spain, Norway, and Ireland last year.
More than 220 members of parliament in the UK, representing about a third of the House of Commons and mostly Labour members, wrote to Starmer on Friday, urging him to recognize a Palestinian state.
British government aims for peace and a Palestinian State
Successive British governments have said they will formally recognize a Palestinian state when the time is right, without ever setting a timetable or specifying the necessary conditions.
Starmer's approach to the issue has been complicated by the arrival in Scotland on Friday of US President Donald Trump, with whom he has built warm relations. In foreign policy terms, Britain has rarely diverged from the United States.
Israel has been facing growing international criticism, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government rejects, over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where images of starving Palestinians have alarmed the world.