More than a third of MPs have signed a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling for the UK to recognize a Palestinian state, BBC said on its website.

Some 220 MPs from nine political parties have backed the call - more than half of them Labour - arguing that UK recognition would send a "powerful" message and a vital step toward a two-state solution.

The letter piles pressure on the prime minister after France committed to recognizing a Palestinian statehood within months.

In an earlier statement after an emergency phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Friedrich Merz, Starmer claimed recognizing Palestinian statehood would have to be part of a "wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution".

In his statement, the prime minister said: "Alongside our closest allies, I am working on a pathway to peace in the region, focused on the practical solutions that will make a real difference to the lives of those that are suffering in this war.

"That pathway will set out the concrete steps needed to turn the ceasefire so desperately needed, into a lasting peace.

"Recognition of a Palestinian state has to be one of those steps. I am unequivocal about that.

"But it must be part of a wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis."