TUV councillor seeks to shut down Sinn Fein-led debate on Israel tonight on the grounds that it is irrelevant to Belfast City Council

Ron McDowell, the sole TUV member, attempted to defeat the Sinn Fein-led motion by appealing to the standing orders – the rules governing debate in the chamber.

The meeting coincided with the "international day of solidarity with the Palestinian people" today, and the motion is the only item of business on the agenda; tonight's meeting has been called to discuss it, and only it.

The motion made reference to supporting “the Palestinian people of Belfast” and says: "This council calls for immediate ceasefires, for the immediate release of all hostages, and for the unconditional adherence by all parties to their commitments under international law and the UN charter.

"The position of the Israeli Ambassador to Ireland is now untenable.

"The Ambassador should no longer enjoy diplomatic status in Ireland while Israel refuses the imperative for ceasefires and as the suffering and death toll grow."

It ends by calling on the UN to "dismantle Israel's apartheid systems".

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Councillor McDowell said he will oppose the motion based on standing order 13B, which says that "every notice of motion shall be relevant to some matter in relation to which the council has powers or duties, or which directly affects the city and its citizens".

"When you call for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador from Dublin, that's not really a motion that'll be relevant," councillor McDowell said.

"On a point of order, as soon as the motion is read out tonight, I'll stand and object."

He said he expected his objection to be overruled, and from there "it just becomes a slanging match where I'll defend Israel, they'll attack Israel, and the motion will most likely be passed".

Councillor McDowell said: "There has been a ceasefire for six days, and the longer the conflict goes on the most vindicated Israel is, because everything Israel said has come to pass: they've found tunnels in mosques, children's bedrooms, under hospitals, rocket launch sites in children's playgrounds."

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What of the bodycount, now estimated by Gazan authorities to be approaching 15,000?

"The casualties are awful,” said councillor McDowell.

"When we debated Israel previously in the chamber one of the quotes I read was from Ian Paisley Senior: 'The tears of the Protestants are exactly the same as the tears of the Catholic children'.

"I think if you go to Israel, the tears of the Palestinian children and the tears of the Israeli children are exactly the same.

"But I think what Israel is trying to do now is ensure this situation never rises again.

"There's a desperately high death toll, but the hope is this will secure Israel's borders and therefore the peace of Israel for many years to come."

Given the maths of the chamber, there was always a strong chance the motion would be carried.

Sinn Fein has 22 councillors, the SDLP has five, and People Before Profit has one.

The DUP has only 14 councillors, the UUP two, and the TUV one, with Alliance having 11, the Greens three, plus one independent.

Meanwhile, there were two amendments to the Sinn Fein motion: one from Alliance, one from People Before Profit and the Greens.

The Alliance one softened the Sinn Fein motion, for example by replacing a reference to the "murder" of civilians with the "killing" of civilians, and by getting rid of the bit about expelling the ambassador, but was rejected.

The People Before Profit / Green one sought to toughen it up, by keeping the original Sinn Fein motion and adding in a reference to Israeli "genocide", and saying that the council supports "the demands of the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel".

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Their amendment also wants the council to:

"Host a meeting of trade unionists across workplaces in Belfast" to co-ordinate BDS activities;

To urge Queen's University Belfast to "rescind the position of honorary chancellor to Hilary Clinton";

And to "refuse to host US diplomats"; and to demand that the Irish government "refuse to allow US troops or military equipment to pass through Shannon or any other airport while Israeli apartheid continues".

The People Before Profit/Green one sought to toughen it up, by keeping the original Sinn Fein motion and calling for more sanctions.

Afterwards, councillor Michael Collins of the PBP welcomed the party's amendment having been accepted.

He said: “I am glad that councillors have more firmly endorsed the call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel, but there is still work to be done.”

• The amended motion was passed 30-16, with nine abstentions.