David Ward, a Liberal Democrat MP, tweeted on Tuesday that he would fire rockets into Israel if he was a Palestinian.

"The big question is - if I lived in #Gaza would I fire a rocket? - probably yes," he tweeted.

In a follow-up message, he wrote ""Ich bin ein #palestinian - the West must make up its mind - which side is it on?"

Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi has written to Metropolitan Police, calling for an investigation into Ward’s actions “as a matter of urgency.”

The remarks were immediately condemned by other MPs, including the Conservative party chairman Grant Shapps, who referred to it as an “incitement to violence” and “completely irresponsible.”

Following the tweets, Ward told BBC Radio 5 on Wednesday that he condemned violence, and could “understand the plight of the people firing rockets.”

“The question is why would they [Israeli Forces] want to fire missiles when they know that the missiles will result in further Palestinian deaths, to a disproportionate level? Why are they doing it?

"They are doing it because they are absolutely desperate and politicians in the West are failing them."

This will be the second disciplinary probe that Ward faces. He was temporarily suspended by the party in July last year after he called Israel an ‘apartheid state’ and refused to apologize.

Ward’s comments came as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon urged the Israelis and Palestinians to stop fighting, and resume negotiations for a ceasefire.

Since the conflict began 17 days ago, almost 700 Palestinians have been killed, most of whom were civilians.

NTJ/NJF