A Welsh Labour MP and Plaid Cymru have raised concerns after Sir Keir Starmer said recognising a Palestinian state depends on the actions of the Israeli government.
The Prime Minister said on Tuesday that the UK would go ahead in September unless Israel took “substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza”.
The move followed pressure from more than half of Labour’s Commons backbenchers, including Newport’s Ruth Jones who said recognition should be “unconditional” and called for the prime minister to go further.
Plaid’s Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts said the right to self-determination “belongs to the Palestinian people, not to an occupying power”.
First Minister Eluned Morgan, who had signed a letter calling for immediate recognition, welcomed the announcement on Tuesday.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move “rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism”.
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 United Nations to restart the supply of aid.
Otherwise, he explained that the UK would take the step at September’s UN General Assembly.
Meanwhile he said 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.
Jones, who represents Newport West and Islwyn, said it was a “significant” announcement from Sir Keir who had “moved a long way”.
Speaking to Radio Wales Breakfast, she said: “I do welcome the fact that he is agreeing to recognize the state of Palestine, but I am concerned because obviously it’s conditional on Israel.
Comparing the situation to the signing of the Balfour declaration in 1917, where the British government pledged support for a national home for the Jewish people, the MP said: “The same thing is true for Palestine today.
“The Palestinians need a home, and at the moment there are bombs raining down still, there’s not enough aid getting in.
“They don’t have a home that is recognised across the world.
“I understand that Hamas has to play its part as well. It has to release the hostages. But I am concerned that this is all conditional, and I want to see an unconditional recognition”.
She said recognition would show the Palestinians “we do understand, we get it”.
Saville Roberts, Plaid’s Westminster leader, said: “Recognition of a Palestinian state should not be conditional on the actions of the Israeli government. The right to self-determination belongs to the Palestinian people, not to an occupying power.”
The party called “for immediate recognition of Palestine, alongside the release of all hostages, a ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza, and genuine progress towards lasting peace”.
Wales office minister, Llanelli Labour MP Nia Griffith, told Radio Cymru’s Dros Frecwast: “What’s important now is securing lasting peace in Gaza and creating a two-state situation is a possible way of securing peace.”
She added: “If two states are created, then we must emphasise that Hamas would not govern.”
Morgan jointly penned a letter to the Guardian with other senior Labour figures in June calling for recognition to take place “without further delay or equivocation”.
In a social media message, she said she “strongly” welcomed the Prime Minister’s statement.
“The situation and suffering in Gaza is intolerable,” she said.