Labor MP Jess Phillips says there is no animosity between her and Sir Keir Starmer after she quit as party leader over the ceasefire vote in Gaza.

Ms Phillips said on Wednesday that she was stepping down from her role as shadow minister with a “heavy heart”.

“I don’t feel like I’m rebelling against the Labor Party, I feel like I’m taking a stand with my heart, my head and my voters,” she said.

But Ms Phillips, MP for Birmingham Yardley, said her constituents were “extremely saddened and pained” about the ongoing situation in Israel and Gaza.

“I don’t feel that the current military action is doing anything to ensure a stable future in the Middle East,” she said.

She said she understood the views of Sir Keir and Labour, but she did not see the current action “ending up anywhere more safely”. [and] defender of Israel and Palestine”.

She told BBC Radio WM: “The babies in the incubators are not a threat and the cost of their lives, of not having fuel to get into Gaza, is not something I can acceptable”.

“No one is suggesting that Israel does not have the right to defend itself – I am of the view that it must target absolutely and completely proportionally and protect future peace.”

Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana also voted for the ceasefire.

“There is nothing humane about feeding children a little today and then bombing them again tomorrow,” she said.

“The only humane way forward is an immediate ceasefire.”