ISRAEL'S leaders were last night condemned as "mass murderers and war criminals" over the bombardment of Gaza as MPs called for Britain to expel the Israeli ambassador in London, stop providing arms to Ehud Olmert's government and support sanctions against it.

In a heated debate following a statement on the crisis by David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, there was condemnation of Hamas's "callous" targeting of rockets on Israeli civilians, but most criticism was focused on the Israeli government and the "disproportionate" nature of its military action in Gaza.

Labour's Gerald Kaufman, a former Shadow Foreign Secretary, suggested it was "incontrovertible" that "Olmert, Livni and Barak Israel's prime, foreign and defence ministers are mass murderers and war criminals".

Sir Patrick Cormack, the veteran Conservative backbencher, noted many MPs felt "ashamed" because Israel was "not behaving as a civilised state should".

Ann Clwyd, Labour MP for Cynon Valley, said it was "absolutely disgraceful" that Israel was preventing humanitarian aid reaching Gaza.

Marsha Singh, the Labour MP for Bradford West, led calls for the expulsion of Israel's ambassador and the withdrawal of Britain's envoy in Tel Aviv. "Isn't it time we called for international sanctions against Israel?" .

Sir Menzies Campbell, the former Liberal Democrat leader, noted that if any other democratic state had behaved like Israel, Britain would be considering "what other diplomatic or economic steps" to take and asked if this indeed was the case.

Mr Miliband, having described the killings and humanitarian crisis in Gaza as "appalling", insisted economic sanctions were not the way forward. "We do not believe that the isolation of Israel is the way to achieve influence with Israel."

He dismissed the idea of removing the Israeli ambassador as "gesture politics".

Michael Howard, the ex-Tory leader, looked to Barack Obama, the incoming US President, to provide a "glimmer of hope" as the person who had "the means to secure the concessions on both sides" for a lasting settlement in the Middle East.

Mr Miliband assured MPs that when Mr Obama took office next Tuesday, he looked forward to engagement on this issue "from day one".