Second ceasefire call

take as part of the UN Security Council.

The UK has previously abstained from voting on ceasefire resolutions in the Security Council, including last Tuesday, when the US vetoed a resolution put forward by Algeria calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”.

Commenting, Flynn said: “After a shameful week of Westminster chaos, the SNP will move the debate forward and press the UK Parliament to back concrete actions to secure an immediate ceasefire.

“More than 29,000 Palestinian children, women and men have been killed, huge swathes of Gaza have been obliterated, and the population faces a worsening humanitarian crisis.

“The SNP will seek to refocus the discussion away from the Westminster circus and onto what really matters – doing everything we can to actually secure an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israel.”

Flynn added that some progress had been made despite “the appalling spectacle at Westminster”.

“Public and SNP pressure have forced the next prime minister – Sir Keir Starmer – into a U-turn so now we need to work together to force the UK Government to change its position too,” he said.

“The SNP’s calls for the UK to back an immediate ceasefire have never just been about the symbolism of having a strong and clear position against the hostilities – they have always been about forcing the UK Government to use every lever it has to achieve an immediate ceasefire.”

He called on the UK to “finally join with the UN, and the majority of the international community, in backing an immediate ceasefire”.

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Flynn said the UK must not be a “spectator on the sidelines”, and that it must take “concrete steps” to secure a ceasefire “using the range of influence at its disposal”.

He continued: “The UK has a moral duty to act – to save lives, prevent the collective punishment of the Palestinian people, secure the release of the hostages, and do everything we can to make a peaceful two-state solution a reality rather than an increasingly distant pipedream.”

It comes amid reports that Israel is planning a military offensive in Rafah, the southernmost town in Gaza, where more than half of the territory’s population of 2.3 million people are estimated to be sheltering.

An Israeli minister also confirmed that Israel plans to build thousands of new settlement homes in the occupied West Bank.