Imran Hussein, a member of the British House of Commons from the opposition Labor Party, resigned from his position as Minister of Labor and Unemployment Affairs in the shadow government in protest against the party leader’s refusal to demand a ceasefire in the Israeli war on Gaza.

Hussein will remain an elected member of the Labor Party in the House of Commons, and a few days ago he signed among 39 Labor Party delegates a parliamentary proposal to “immediately stop the escalation and fighting” in Gaza.

Labor Party Chairman Keir Starmer has so far rejected the growing calls in his party to demand a ceasefire, and his official position on the issue is to support a “humanitarian truce” that allows supplies and basic needs to enter the Gaza Strip, which is the same position adopted by the British government.

34 local councils affiliated with the Labor Party support a ceasefire, and a quarter of the party’s representatives in the House of Commons, and more than 20 ministers in the shadow government, also support the decision. They are pressuring the party’s leadership to change its position and support the ceasefire, which may cause widening divisions within the party. It jeopardizes Starmer's authority within him, according to a report by the British newspaper The Times.

Starmer has sought to win Jewish votes for the party since taking office in 2020, and followed the example of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the conflict in the Middle East, saying that Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas.

MP Andy McDonald, a close associate of former party leader Jeremy Corbyn, was accused of using “anti-Semitic” language for chanting at a demonstration, “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.”

While John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor during Corbyn's leadership, defended the right of Labor MPs to use this language, considering that it expresses justice for the Palestinians.