Brighton MP David Lepper has joined calls for an immediate end to violence in the Middle East.

Mr Lepper, Labour MP for Brighton Pavilion, is one of a cross-party group of 50 MPs who have issued a public statement calling on Israel to end its bombing of Lebanon and demanding Hezbollah stops its rocket attacks on Israeli towns.

Their statement reads: "As Members of the United Kingdom Parliament we condemn both the Hezbollah rocket attacks, which have killed 17 civilians in Israel, and the disproportionate Israeli military strikes, which in the last few weeks have killed over 370 civilians and displaced over 500,000 in Lebanon and killed over 100 in Gaza.

"Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority all have the right to defend their lawful territories and to protect their peoples from attack.

"Rocket attacks by militias on Israeli towns do not protect the people of Palestine or Lebanon. Likewise, the people of Israel are not protected by military might which targets homes, bridges and roads in Lebanon."

Mr Lepper added: "It is to the shame of the international community that it has never persuaded or forced the government of Israel to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 242 by leaving land to which it has no right and returning to the borders it had before the 1967 war."