Sir Keir Starmer will attempt to see off a frontbench rebellion over the Israel-Hamas war tomorrow by tabling his own amendment to the King's Speech, which would “reaffirm” the party’s position on the conflict.

However, it will stop short of calling for the ceasefire demanded by a number of his MPs, arguing instead for humanitarian pauses.  

The SNP has tabled an amendment explicitly asking MPs to vote for the government to “join with the international community in urgently pressing all parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire”.

READ MORE: Baillie accuses SNP of 'game playing' over Palestine ceasefire vote

It's thought at least 16 members of Labour's frontbench could back the SNP motion, and be sacked for breaking the whip. 

During a debate in the Commons on Tuesday, Labour shadow minister Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi appeared to suggest that humanitarian pauses alone would not address a “grave humanitarian crisis now unfolding in Gaza”, describing them as only a “first step”.

Last week, Imran Hussain, MP for Bradford East, quit as shadow minister for the new deal for working people to be able to “strongly advocate” for a ceasefire.

Writing in Tribune magazine, former Scottish Labour leader, Richard Leonard said his colleagues in Westminster needed to “search their consciences and vote for a ceasefire in Gaza.”

He described it as “the biggest decision for Parliamentarians since Iraq.”

He added: “To support the call is not an act of protest but the exercise of power. To support the call is not to side with the Scottish National Party either, but to side with humanity, with the people whose homes, hospitals, schools and refugee camps are being bombed, and with the United Nations and the humanitarian agencies who are all demanding it.” 

However, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, Dame Jackie Baillie claimed the SNP motion was “game playing.

“You cannot watch premature babies dying in hospitals, because there's no electricity to power incubators, and then start the kind of game playing that the SNP are engaged in,” she told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland." 

READ MORE: SNP piles pressure on Scottish Labour over ceasefire vote

Speaking to the BBC's PM, Lisa Nandy, the Shadow Secretary for International Development, was asked if her frontbench colleagues would be sacked for backing the SNP motion. 

She said: "Well, whipping decisions are obviously a matter for the chief whip and I don't think he or my colleagues would take kindly to me making them live on the radio.

"But what I would say is that we've been very clear that whilst we all want to see an end to the violence as quickly as possible, we are also clear, having spent time in the region in the last couple of weeks and worked very closely with partners across the board, that the only viable prospect as the UN humanitarian coordinator has said, is currently to extend humanitarian pauses to get aid in, to get the hostages out."

Speaking in the Commons earlier, the SNP's foreign affairs spokesman Brendan O’Hara said a ceasefire was "essential".

He added: “I expect members from the Labour Party in Scotland to be in the lobbies with us, because without justice there can be no peace.”