Keir Starmer is braced for resignations from his frontbench after ordering Labour MPs not to vote for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Labour leader has called for a humanitarian pause in the war, but he has warned a ceasefire would only allow Hamas to regroup and plan more atrocities.
Labour MPs are under a three-line whip to back the party’s amendment to the King’s Speech later, which calls for longer humanitarian pauses in the besieged enclave.
This comes as Israel says its forces have entered the Al Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest medical facility, as part of the IDF’s ground offensive against Hamas.
The Israeli military said it had killed several militants at the outset of the raid, and claimed they had been confronted by “explosive devices and terrorist squads”.
Gunfire and explosions were heard inside the hospital complex, which had been surrounded by Israeli forces in recent days but continued to operate with hundreds of patients and medical personnel still inside.
Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals as cover for its fighters, alleging that Hamas has set up its main command centre in and beneath Al Shifa hospital. Both Hamas and hospital staff deny the Israeli allegations.
