Britain said on Tuesday it would recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes steps to relieve suffering in Gaza, where starvation is spreading, and reaches a ceasefire in the nearly two-year war with Hamas.

The warning, which drew a harsh Israeli rebuke, came after Palestinian authorities said more than 60,000 Palestinians were now confirmed killed in Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip and UN agencies warned Gaza is slipping into famine.

The alert by the World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organization raised the prospect that the starvation crisis in Gaza could be formally classified as a famine, in the hope that this might raise the pressure on Israel to let in far more food.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told his cabinet that the UK would recognize Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly in September "unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, reaches a ceasefire, makes clear there will be no annexation in the West Bank, and commits to a long-term peace process that delivers a two-state solution," his government said.

Starmer's warning heightens pressure on Israel amid an international outcry over its conduct of the war. France announced last week it would recognize Palestinian statehood in September, a move that enraged the Israeli government.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a post on X that Starmer's decision "rewards Hamas's monstrous terrorism & punishes its victims," adding that "A jihadist state on Israel's border TODAY will threaten Britain TOMORROW."

Evidence of starvation, malnutrition, disease

The WFP said on Tuesday it was not getting the permissions it needed to deliver enough aid since Israel began humanitarian pauses in warfare on Sunday.

"The worst-case scenario of famine is now unfolding in the Gaza Strip," said the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC), a group of monitors who advise the United Nations on impending crises.

The IPC stopped short of declaring a state of famine, but made clear the situation is critical.

Gaza health authorities have been reporting more and more people dying from hunger-related causes. The total stands at 147, among them 88 children, most of whom died in the last few weeks.

Images of emaciated Palestinian children have shocked the world, but Israel has denied there's starvation in Gaza.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said said Britain, France and Germany could send their foreign ministers to Israel next week, as the latest efforts to push the Israeli government to improve the situation in Gaza.

Calls for Hamas to give up Gaza rule

Arab countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt joined calls on Tuesday for Hamas to disarm and end its rule of Gaza, in a bid to end the war.

Seventeen countries plus the European Union and Arab League released a seven-page text agreed at a United Nations conference on reviving the two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians.

"In the context of ending the war in Gaza, Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State," said the declaration.

It followed a call on Monday by the Palestinian delegation at the United Nations for both Israel and Hamas to leave Gaza, allowing the Palestinian Authority to administer the coastal territory.

The text also condemned the deadly October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas against Israel.

With Israel and the U.S. absent, France and Saudi Arabia co-chaired the UN meeting, calling the declaration "both historic and unprecedented."

The text, co-signed by France, Britain and Canada among other Western nations, also called for the possible deployment of foreign forces to stabilize Gaza after the end of hostilities.

(With input from Reuters and AFP)