The debate continues with Tobias Ellwood, Conservative MP for Bournemouth East, saying that as the nation watches on, "it's been a very sad day for parliament".

"There are not one but three separate motions as this debate turns into political football, shame on us for failing to find common ground," Ellwood says.

He adds it has been a wasted opportunity to show UK leadership and to get closer to the objective they are debating.

He says that from the start he supported Israel's right to defend itself after the 7 October attacks but, he says, he was the only voice in parliament "to warn Prime Minister Netanyahu before he sent in the tanks not to invade until there was a clear governance and security plan" to work toward.

Hamas should not be allowed to stay as they are committed to destroying Israel, Ellwood adds, and says that shouting ceasefire alone will not change their aim.

Jennifer McKiernan
Live reporter

The fallout from the Speaker's unusual decision to allow Labour's amendment to the Gaza debate is continuing.

Now the Clerk of the House, Tom Goldsmith, who's the chief adviser on matters of parliamentary procedure in the Commons, has added his views.

He's written a letter putting on record his belief Lindsay Hoyle's decision was a "substantial breach" of procedures intended to allow the opposition to vote on their own motion.

"...I feel compelled to point out that long-established conventions are not being followed in this case," he writes, adding he and Hoyle discussed the issue "extensively" and the final decision "is one for you to make".

We are hearing again from Layla Moran, a Liberal Democrat MP. She says that she is "speechless with the way this debate began".

"There has been scant opportunity for me to be able to tell the story of not just my family but hundreds more of those in the church in northern Gaza and all in Palestine," she adds.

She asks all the MPs to "hold all these people in their hearts".

Moran says she believes the House is moving towards "a right position".

She adds she wants to send a message to the Palestinians perishing in their tents on the ground, and to the hostages' families, and she hopes for an immediate ceasefire.

"We need this to stop now and I don't care what we call it," she says.

Moran concludes her comments saying "without a two-state solution on 1967 borders we are condemning both Israelis and Palestinians to reliving this nightmare over and over again".

Conservative MP Liam Fox is up now and he is talking about the consequences of the 7 October attacks.

“The attacks of the terrorist group Hamas - including the murder of young people attending a music festival and the taking of hostages - was bound to set in train a series of violence that Hamas themselves must have fully understood – including a full response by the Israeli government.”

Fox goes on to talk about the role Britain can play in trying to resolve the crisis.

We are not participants in the conflict, he says, so we cannot have a direct effect on whether arms are laid down. But we can have an influence in the political process which comes later, he says.

Mhairi Black, SNP Deputy Westminster Leader, answers Mitchell's comments by saying: "It makes no sense to say the situation in Gaza is too complex for a ceasefire."

"Ceasefire means stop firing. There is no middle ground, you either stop firing or you don't," she says.

Black compares the 2014 conflict in Gaza, where she says that over 2,000 Palestinians were killed and the then-Prime Minister of the UK, David Cameron, called for a ceasefire. Saying there have been about 30,000 deaths in Gaza, she calls for an unconditional ceasefire.

She says that Israel is not allowing aid to Gaza and that the people there are starving to death.

Israel disputes this and has said in the past that it does not restrict aid going into Gaza.

You can read about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and the logistics of getting aid in, here.

BBC Newsnight political editor Nicholas Watt has posted on X to say that Speaker Lindsay Hoyle was told he would not be re-elected if he did not call Labour's amendment.

Watt writes that senior Labour figures told him that Hoyle "was left in no doubt that Labour would bring him down after the general election unless he called Labour’s Gaza amendment".

The House's principal constitutional adviser has warned the Speaker that "long-established conventions are not being followed" by allowing Labour's amendment to be debated today.

In a letter to Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the clerk of the House of Commons, Tom Goldsmith, says the decision could prevent a vote on the SNP's own motion, or the government's.

But he acknowledges that the Speaker and his deputies have "complete discretion" when deciding which amendments to select.

Lib Dem MP Layla Moran asks for more to be told to the House about sanctions imposed on four "extremist" Israeli settlers the UK has accused of attacking Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

"They are working," she adds.

Moran also asks what more was said to Prime Minister Netanyahu about the possible future Palestinian state “because that is a necessary precondition for any kind of ceasefire”.

Mitchell replies that the UK foreign secretary and the prime minister have both been very clear on the importance of a Palestinian state.

The former leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, asks Mitchell what the government's response is to the interim decisions of the International Court of Justice which "effectively called for an immediate, unilateral halt to the hostilities by Israel against the people of Gaza".

"Surely, if the government believes in the rule of international law, they should respect the International Court of Justice," Corbyn concludes.

Mitchell says the government respects the international court and that it still sees it as a mistake that South Africa launched the case.

Mitchell says the British government has helped more than 300 UK nationals leave Gaza.

He points to the worsening humanitarian situation in the territory, where "hunger and disease are spreading".

Mitchell adds: "We want to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes."

Image source, House of Commons

Andrew Mitchell says a ceasefire will not last if hostages are still being held, “if Hamas still rain down rockets on Israel and if they maintain control of Gaza with capabilities to carry out further terrorist atrocities”.

He says the priority is a “humanitarian pause” to get hostages out safely and aid into Gaza quickly.

He says he wants the pause to become “a complete ceasefire without a return to fighting”.

As Prime Minister Sunak had told Israel's counterpart Netanyahu last week, he adds, “we continue to support Israel's right to defend its people against Hamas’s terror”.

“But we are concerned about the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”

Next up is Development Minister Andrew Mitchell, who outlines the government's amendment on the SNP's motion.

The amendment, which calls for an "immediate humanitarian pause" to fighting in Gaza, also supports Israel's right to self-defence, "in compliance with international humanitarian law" against the attacks by Hamas, he says.

Mitchell adds that it supports a move towards a permanent sustainable ceasefire, the formation of a new Palestinian government and Hamas to be unable to launch further attacks.

And a credible pathway to a two-state solution and delivers justice for both Israelis and Palestinians and proposes that this "very careful crafted amendment" should be the one to go ahead, he adds.

Sean Curran
Parliamentary correspondent

The House of Commons has a rule book - Erskine May - but it is also a place of conventions and traditions. Today, Sir Lindsay Hoyle broke with convention.

Opposition-day debates are designed to give opposition parties the chance to present a case and vote on it.

That's why they have a slightly different procedure from other days in the Commons. The big difference is the order of the votes.

What normally happens is that the government either tries to vote down an opposition motion or rewrite it by proposing an amendment.

But the opposition motion is always voted on.

The Speaker's decision to select both the Labour and the government amendments opens up the possibility that SNP MPs might not get the chance to vote on their own motion.

That's why we saw and heard the outcry in the Commons this afternoon.

It's very unusual for another opposition party to put forward changes as well.

There was a debate in 2000 when there was a Liberal Democrat amendment (but no government amendment because of a slip-up) on a Conservative opposition-day debate on asylum and immigration.

The Liberal Democrat amendment was voted on first and defeated. MPs then rejected the Conservative motion.

Lammy agrees weapons won't bring an end to this crisis and calls again for an immediate ceasefire and the immediate release of hostages.

On a two-state solution, he says "we're on a journey... most colleagues, when they talk about those two states, are thinking about 1967 borders".

Lammy gives way to Rehman Chishti, the Conservative MP for Gillingham and Rainham. He says people are "fed up" with politicians not clarifying what a two-state solution is - and calls for a clear framework to help them understand.

He also calls for a clear timeline to be set in delivering such a solution.

Lammy says it's "not military and weapons that will bring an end to this crisis", but politics.

Lammy goes on to say more about Labour's thinking - and it is to do with alleviating suffering in Gaza.

Starvation is widespread in Gaza, he says.

Before this crisis, bout 500 trucks entered Gaza every day. Now it is fewer than 95, he says.

Medical aid is hard to come by "and the last hospitals are closing".

"And [it's] personal to me because one of my children is adopted - there are now 17,000 young people who are orphaned” in Gaza, he says.

Image source, House of Commons

Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran says that the headlines likely to follow today's proceedings will be about the rejection of an immediate ceasefire because of the lack of co-ordination between opposition parties.

She asks David Lammy whether he agrees that "we should and could have done better".

Lammy says that the whole point of the Labour amendment "is to give this house an opportunity to come together", and that her "poignant" message to the Commons a few weeks ago was the reason why now was the moment "to come together".

Colum Eastwood, Social Democratic and Labour Party MP for Foyle in Northern Ireland, brings a moment of calm to the house.

"There is more cohesion in the house today than we are actually showing the public," he begins.

He says he reluctantly draws comparisons between this debate and the Northern Ireland peace process.

He calls on all MPs "to support any opportunity to vote for an immediate ceasefire".

But he says the peace process in Northern Ireland showed that any cessation of violence cannot immediately be guaranteed to be permanent.

"You work for the ceasefire and then you work to make it permanent," he said.

Image source, Getty Images

Well, as MPs debate on a Gaza ceasefire call, here's a chance to break down some of the terminology you're hearing:

• The House of Commons is expected to vote later this evening on a call - or motion - submitted by the Scottish National Party (SNP) for MPs to back an immediate ceasefire
• Before voting begins, other parties can put forward their own position, which might suggest changes to the language or conditions of the SNP’s original motion. This is called an amendment
• Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has chosen the order in which amendments are put forward for MPs to first debate and ultimately vote on
• They will be able to vote for, against or abstain

Harry Farley
Political correspondent

The debate is now under way and we are expecting votes on it by 7pm this evening.

But because the Speaker of the House of Commons has unusually allowed both the Labour and Conservative amendments to the SNP’s motion calling for an “immediate ceasefire”, the voting will be slightly complicated.

First there will be a vote on the Labour amendment to the SNP motion.

If that passes, there will be a final decision on the motion as amended, which will effectively mean a vote on the Labour wording again.

If the Labour amendment fails, there will then be a vote on the original SNP motion.

That original SNP motion is unlikely to pass, given the government and Labour leadership are opposed to it. There will then be a vote on the government amendment.

So there will be multiple votes on the various different wordings tabled by the different parties.

We will be here to explain what it all means. But remember – whatever the final version is – the government does not have to act on it.

However if MPs call for a ceasefire, it would add to growing international calls for an end to the fighting.