Liverpool City Council votes to support calls for Gaza ceasefire
BBCA Labour-run council has voted to support calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Hours after Israel and Hamas agreed to a four-day pause in fighting, Liverpool councillors agreed to support a motion pushing for it to become "the basis for a permanent ceasefire".
The vote followed days of debate and negotiation between the parties on the council, over the motion's wording.
The full council meeting in the city's Town Hall was held as demonstrators outside called for a ceasefire.
Liberal group leader Steve Radford, who proposed the motion, said the amended text had only been finally agreed "at the eleventh hour".
The motion had been tabled by opposition councillors, leaving Labour to have to decide whether to support it or not.
It is understood there were internal splits in the city's 61-strong Labour group on how to respond.
The decision to support the call for a ceasefire potentially put Labour councillors on a collision course with the national party, as it comes seven days after Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer sacked a number of frontbench MPs for backing an SNP motion to call for a ceasefire.
Council leader Liam Robinson denied the local party's stance went against the party's stance nationally.
"I don't think this puts us at odds with anyone," he said.
"What we are marking is that we are pleased that this international agreement has been found as the start of a process of returning hostages which is something everyone wants to see.
"Hopefully, this will lead to proper international engagement that can lead to a proper peaceful settlement into the future."
Outside the meeting, about 100 people with Palestinian flags and banners gathered, chanting "ceasefire now" and "free Palestine".
The amended motion, which all councillors voted for, said the "four-day ceasefire and hostage return" was "a welcome first step which we hope will become the basis for a permanent ceasefire and long-term settlement".
References to "collective punishment of the Palestinian people" were removed from the text and a commitment to "reject any and all inflammatory rhetoric" was added.
The meeting was also addressed by Tawhid Islam from the Liverpool region mosque network and Merseyside Jewish Representative Council chairman Max Marcus.
Speaking together after the meeting, Mr Marcus said the conflict was "impacting significantly" on "relationships between Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Muslims living on Merseyside" and there had been "a substantial rise in anti-Semitism from all quarters".
He added he was pleased Liverpool City Council had come up with "an acceptable way forward".
Tawhid Islam said communities across Liverpool had been "coming together" to discuss the conflict "and they have different opinions", so there needed to be "more balance to the narrative".
He added those communities were clearly "on the side of humanity and we want to see the fighting stop, the killing stop".
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Robinson said it was a "challenging issue" and he understood some residents might question why a local council was debating international affairs.
Liberal Democrat councillor Richard Clein said he was unsure why that was as it was "not for us to pass comment on military conflict".
Underlining the anti-Semitic abuse he had personally suffered, he said the council had previously heard some "inflammatory" comments that could divide communities and no other global conflicts had been the subject of a formal motion.
Mr Radford said "if things go wrong", the conflict could lead to more displaced people in Liverpool.
"In my ward, we have a high number of refugees - it has an impact on us," he said.
He added other councils would be listening to Liverpool.
Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, X and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [email protected]