Bruce said the measure “gives one group hope” and incentivizes bad actors to not cooperate with diplomatic channels.
“In any other normal environment where someone was so utterly defeated, they would surrender. In this case, that just does not occur,” said Bruce.
Bruce added that Hamas relied on “the hope that they receive on how long the suffering lasts, how much that pushes the world to acquiesce to their arguments.”
Calls for recognition in the U.K. grew across the political divide after images surfaced of the scale of starvation in Gaza. Starmer told his Cabinet Tuesday “now was the right time to move this position forward” due to the diminishing prospects of a peace process.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the U.K.’s move would embolden Hamas and place it at risk.
“[U.K. PM Keir] Starmer rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism & punishes its victims,” Netanyahu said in a post on X.
