Bracknell’s MP has called for an end to the fighting in Gaza after an explosion at a hospital in the besieged Palestinian territory killed hundreds of civilians – and after he received hundreds of letters from worried constituents.

MP James Sunderland has said his office has received at least 500 emails from constituents about the war in Gaza since the fighting began.

He said the letters had come from people of all communities including Jews and Muslims – but that they typically wanted the government to try and bring an end to the war.

Mr Sunderland said: “It’s a combination of the Jewish community, it’s the Muslim community and it’s just people.

“They’re pretty upset – they’re all upset because it’s horrible. What’s happening in there is ghastly.  A marauding terrorist attack which killed that many people. We’ve now got the Israelis lobbing everything into Gaza. We need restraint.”

He added that one letter – which called on the government to pressure Israel into allowing food and water into Gaza, and to bring an end to the fighting – was a “classic example of a letter that we are getting.”

Mr Sunderland’s comments came after an explosion at the Ahli hospital in Gaza killed a reported 500 people on Tuesday evening, October 17.

The Palestinian armed group Hamas said the hospital had been hit in an Israeli air strike – although Israel denies this, claiming the explosion was caused by a Palestinian rocket that had misfired.

Israel and Hamas have been fighting since the armed group broke out of the Gaza Strip – which has been under siege since 2007 – and killed some 1,200 Israelis.

In the wake of Tuesday’s blast, prime minister Rishi Sunak said that Israel must take “every precaution” to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza.

He added that MPs must not “rush to judgement” over the cause of the hospital explosion. And he later said that now is not the right time to call for a ceasefire as Hamas is still holding Israeli hostages.

But Mr Sunderland said it was important to bring an end to the fighting. He said: “We’ve got to bring an end to the hostilities ASAP, opening the humanitarian corridor, and absolutely avoiding further loss of life. This is a human tragedy on a grand scale.

“There’s raw anger out there and we’ve got to dial it down. The sooner we dial it down, the sooner they stop fighting, the sooner we start talking as best we can, then the fewer people are going to be killed.”