Labour councillors appear to have backed their leader Sir Keir Starmer in the escalating row engulfing the party over calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Two members of Kent County Council’s Labour group say they will not resign over Sir Keir’s position of a pause in hostilities rather than a total cessation.

But Cllrs Alister Brady and Barry Lewis both back an end to violence between Israel and Palestine.

Thousands of lives have been lost since the war was sparked by a Hamas attack on Israeli civilians on October 7.

Israel has launched a military air and ground offensive to destroy Hamas in Gaza but with the loss of innocent lives.

Canterbury KCC member Cllr Brady said: “While there is this argument going on about a ceasefire or a pause, what we need is to stop innocent people being killed.

“The only people to profit from wars are incredibly rich people around the world who sell arms and munitions. It’s an incredibly complicated situation.”

Thanet’s Cllr Lewis said: “I support the call for a ceasefire but I appreciate and respect that others have different views. The Labour Party is a broad church.

“Why should I consider resigning over it? How does that help the situation in Israel or Palestine by leaving the Labour Party? It’s irrelevant.”

In the north of England, leaders of Burnley and Pendle councils have joined dozens of Labour MPs urging Sir Keir to back a ceasefire in Gaza.

It follows similar calls from senior Labour figures, London mayor Sadiq Khan, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who have challenged Sir Keir’s stance.

Now it has emerged at least 330 Labour councillors have signed a letter urging Sir Keir to back a ceasefire in Gaza.

The councillors claimed Sir Keir’s position is “harming communities across the UK”.

The letter said: “As community leaders, we are proactively supporting our residents by speaking to faith and community groups and working to protect our communities who are facing rising hate crime and racially motivated violence.

“The intensified human catastrophe in Gaza impacts us all, and the Labour party’s failure to call for an end to violence is causing hurt in our communities.”

Sir Keir, in an address to the Chatham House foreign affairs think tank this week, said: “While I understand calls for a ceasefire at this stage, I do not believe that it is the correct position now.”

He argues a ceasefire would merely give Hamas the opportunity to launch further deadly attacks on Israelis.

Hamas is thought to be 30,000 strong, heavily armed having spent years stockpiling weapons, and operating deep underground in tunnels, directly beneath civilian neighbourhoods.

Being unable to take the subterranean network out by air the Israelis have chosen its offensive using ground forces.