The UK is considering recognizing a Palestinian state as a way to apply pressure on Israel to accept a two-state solution after a ceasefire in Gaza, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said at a Westminster reception Monday.

Speaking to the Conservative Middle East Council at the House of Commons, Cameron said such recognition – after Hamas releases all hostages – would represent “irreversible progress to a two-state solution and, crucially, the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

“We have a responsibility there because we should be starting to set out what a Palestinian state would look like; what it would comprise; how it would work,” he said. “As that happens, we, with allies, will look at the issue of recognizing a Palestinian state, including at the United Nations. This could be one of the things that helps to make this process irreversible.”

The Uk is pushing a five-point plan that would see an end to the fighting, the release of hostages held in Gaza, a “political horizon” for a two-state solution, and a technocratic Palestinian government that would run both Gaza and the West Bank. Hamas’s leaders would be expelled to another country.

Cameron mentioned ongoing efforts to end the war in Gaza, telling assembled lawmakers that “there is a path that we can now see opening up where we really can make progress, not just in ending the conflict, but progress in finding a political solution that can mean peace for years rather than peace for months.” He also criticized Israel for failing to make headway toward an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying that despite the Jewish state’s rising standard of living over the past three decades, its failure to guarantee its citizens’ security meant that “for Israel… the last 30 years has been a failure.”

The Foreign Secretary’s speech reflected an op-ed he published the day before in The Mail on Sunday, in which he wrote that the UK must give the Palestinians “the political perspective of a credible route to a Palestinian state and a new future.”

“And it needs to be irreversible,” Cameron continued. “This is not entirely in our gift. But Britain and our partners can help by confirming our commitment to a sovereign, viable Palestinian state, and our vision for its composition. And, crucially, we must state our clear intention to grant it recognition, including at the United Nations.

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