In a historic development, the Palestinian mission in London has officially been granted full embassy status, with the Palestinian flag raised over the building for the first time on Monday.

The ceremony followed the United Kingdom’s announcement of formal recognition of the State of Palestine, a decision mirrored by several other Western nations.

According to Aljazeera, the flag-raising took place outside the central London building that previously served as the Palestinian Mission but now holds full diplomatic status.

Speaking at the event, Palestinian Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot described the moment as one deeply tied to freedom, dignity, and human rights.

He said the UK’s recognition represented both a correction of historical injustices and a step towards a future grounded in freedom and dignity.

Zomlot said the recognition of a Palestinian state was about “righting historic wrongs and committing together to a future based on freedom, dignity and fundamental human rights”.

He called on people to remember “that this recognition comes at a time of unimaginable pain and suffering as a genocide is being waged against us — a genocide that is still being denied and allowed to continue with impunity”.

“It comes as our people in Gaza are being starved, bombed, and buried under the rubble of their homes; as our people in the West Bank are being ethnically cleansed, brutalised by daily state-sponsored terrorism, land theft and suffocating oppression,” he said.

Zomlot said the recognition was occurring “as the humanity of Palestinian people is still questioned, our lives still treated as disposable and our basic freedoms still denied”.

Zomlot also highlighted the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, where people face starvation, bombings, and displacement, while in the West Bank they continue to endure state oppression and land confiscation. He lamented that Palestinians’ humanity is still being questioned and their rights systematically denied.

Meanwhile, rights group CAGE International called the UK’s step a “belated symbolic declaration,” accusing Western countries of attempting to mask their complicity in what it described as the ongoing genocide of Palestinians.

The group emphasised that a lasting solution could only come through ending Israel’s occupation and dismantling its system of apartheid.

In Gaza, residents welcomed the recognition of Palestinian statehood as a “ray of hope,” but urged the international community to move beyond declarations and take concrete action to stop the bloodshed and ensure Palestinians’ right to self-determination.

On the same day, France also confirmed its recognition of Palestine. The Eiffel Tower was lit up with the flags of Palestine and Israel in support of a two-state solution.

French President Emmanuel Macron said, “Every life in Gaza is equal,” stressing that despite Israel’s killing of several Hamas leaders, the group had not been eliminated, proving Israel’s strategy a failure.

In contrast, the Israeli military claimed it had killed Iyad Abu Yousuf, deputy head of Hamas’ naval police, in an airstrike on Gaza. The army alleged he was involved in the October 7, 2023, attacks.

According to medical sources cited by Aljazeera, at least 29 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza on Monday alone, including 25 in Gaza City.