South Ayrshire councillors have voted to back calls for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

SNP councillor Laura Brennan-Whitfield and Labour's Cameron Ramsay put the motion to a special meeting of the council on Wednesday, emphasising the move was not ‘political’.

Cllr Brennan-Whitefield, who represents the Ayr North ward, said: “I am asking you colleagues to support the ceasefire for humanitarian grounds, not ideological or political.

"The only way to a lasting peace in Israel/Palestine is to end the cycle of violence and for negotiations to begin.

“The civilians in Gaza and families of hostages have suffered so much trauma, with no end in sight.”

However, a senior Conservative member refused to back the motion, arguing that it was "political, whether you like it or not".

Councillor Bob Pollock argued that it "wasn’t the council’s place" to comment on international issues, and said that the UK Government had not backed a ceasefire.

He also claimed that statements backing a ceasefire could be used as propoganda by media organisations which support Hamas.

His Conservative colleague, Cllr Alan Lamont (Girvan and South Carrick) said: “I think we all agree any conflict in the world is a negative all want it to end but we don’t have that power in our grasp.”

He asked whether such a move had been made before and asked if this would set a precedent.

Councillor Pollock, who represents the Troon ward, said: “It is political whether we like it or not. The UK Government has taken a stance that it is not calling for a ceasefire at this point.

“It is not helpful for external parties such as ourselves to make comment on, when they are not fully sighted of the intelligence.

“It is not our place to be commenting on international matters. If we do, I would wonder why we do not take a similar stance in relation to other conflicts. ”

Independent councillor Alec Clark (Girvan and South Carrick) disagreed, saying: “I take an absolutely non-political view on this.

"Some wars are inevitable at time, but all wars are an aberration, especially when civilians are being killed in the numbers that they are.

“I am talking about both sides in this conflict. Sometimes one is just as bad as the other. This could escalate into something that could affect us all.

Labour councillor Ian Cavana (Ayr North) acknowledged that the council hadn’t intervened in conflicts before.

He said: “Yes, we haven’t done it before, but by God it is time we were doing it.”

Former Conservative councillor Hugh Hunter, who now sits as an independent, also backed the motion.

The Prestwick councillor said: “First of all, I accept everything that Cllr Pollock says, but I don’t think it is unreasonable for us to take a view and represent the views of not all, but many of our constituents.

“Will it make a huge difference? No. Will it show that we actually take an interest in our fellow human beings? Yes it will.”

The motion was approved by the council.