Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer could be rocked by further resignations if Labour fails to back a ceasefire in Gaza in a crunch commons vote.
The opposition leader has not yet taken a clear stance on Wednesday's SNP-led motion calling for an urgent halt to hostilities.
Sir Keir, who previously backed a sustainable ceasefire, has now insisted the fighting between Israel and Hamas "must stop now".
Stephen Flynn (Image: Getty)
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting has also declared Israel "has gone too far".
He told Sky News: "We want to see a ceasefire, of course we do. And we have been increasingly concerned, as the wider international community has been, with the disproportionate loss of civilian life in Gaza.
“Israel has a responsibility to get its hostages back, every country in the world has a right to defend itself.
“But I think what we have seen are actions that go beyond reasonable self-defence and also call into question whether Israel has broken international law.”
Asked whether he thought Israel had gone too far, Mr Streeting replied: “I think, objectively, yes, Israel has gone too far. And we have seen that with a disproportionate loss of innocent civilian life.”
A similar vote in November last year saw eight shadow ministers break ranks to back an immediate ceasefire, with some 56 Labour MPs defying a three-line whip and voting for an SNP amendment to the King’s Speech.
Fears of a repeat would have been mounting within the party, particularly after Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, described the SNP’s motion as “perfectly reasonable”.
The SNP’s Westminster chief Stephen Flynn has said he has offered to meet Sir Keir on Monday to discuss the vote, scheduled to take place on Wednesday.
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It comes after a row over the Rochdale by-election, which saw Labour dithering and then ditching its candidate Azhar Ali for making antisemitic remarks.
A second parliamentary candidate, Graham Jones, was also suspended for comments about Israel at the same meeting Mr Ali spoke.
A spokeswoman for the Chief Whip said a decision had not been made on Conservative whipping arrangements ahead of a possible vote on Wednesday’s SNP motion.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman, asked about Mr Streeting’s criticisms of Israel, told reporters on Monday: “As the Prime Minister said to the prime minister of Israel last week, we continue to support Israel’s right to defend its people against Hamas’s terror.
“But we are concerned about the loss of civilian life in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis.
“And that is why the immediate priority must be to negotiate a pause that allows both the safe release of hostages and to facilitate far more aid going into Gaza.”
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There are fresh fears about an escalation in the conflict if Israeli forces move into Rafah, a city and major aid delivery point in southern Gaza.
Downing Street said the UK Government is “deeply concerned about the potentially devastating humanitarian impact” of a military incursion into Rafah.
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