MPs will use an emergency debate in the House of Commons to make final pleas for UK action to prevent more civilian deaths in Aleppo, as Assad regime forces close in on the final areas of rebel-held territory in the Syrian city.

Andrew Mitchell, a Conservative MP who co-chaired the parliamentary Friends of Syria group with the late Labour MP Jo Cox, said he hoped the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, would tell MPs on Tuesday how the UK could “use its immense diplomatic muscle” to protect civilians in the besieged east of the city.

“The house should urgently discuss not ‘something must be done’, but ‘what in the name of humanity we, the international community, will do to save those who today are in such dreadful jeopardy,’” the former international development secretary said.

The Red Cross has urgently appealed for tens of thousands of civilians to be given a few hours for safe passage out of the areas being bombarded by forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad and Iranian-backed militias, supported by Russian warplanes.

Many civilians and activists tweeted and texted farewell messages overnight, saying they faced execution as the regime forces advanced. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, expressed “grave concern” about unverified reports of atrocities against a large number of civilians, including children.

Calling for the emergency debate, which was granted by the Speaker on Monday and backed by MPs across the house, Mitchell said he hoped Johnson would come to demonstrate to MPs how the UK could do more to prevent further massacre.

“I make no apology to the house for raising this vital issue again,” he said. “The debate will enable us to explore, with the government, how Britain’s immense diplomatic muscle – the finest foreign service in the world – can do more to secure a deal that will ensure a ceasefire for at least 24 hours to enable innocent civilians to be rescued from the hideous circumstances that now prevail in east Aleppo.”

Syrian civilians flee the Sukkari neighbourhood towards safer rebel-held areas in south-eastern Aleppo. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Mitchell said the international community had said “never again” after the genocides in Srebrenica, Darfur and Rwanda, but was on the verge of allowing a similar atrocity to take place.

“Many of these terrified civilians trapped in this hellhole, which now resembles Stalingrad at the end of its destruction, are children,” he said. “They have few places to hide. Tomorrow night in Aleppo, the temperature is expected to reach -4C.”

Labour MP Alison McGovern, one of a number backing the debate, said: “Despite the grim reality we are seeking maximum preservation of life in Aleppo, by whatever means.



“We have stood by whilst Assad and the Russians have bombed hospitals and butchered civilians. If we don’t do more to confront this, I doubt the killing ends here.”



On Saturday, the human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell and activists from Syria Solidarity UK disrupted a speech by the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, to demand he do more to condemn the actions of Russia in the Syrian conflict.

Tatchell, who said the Labour leadership must increase demands for aid air drops, said: “What is happening in Aleppo is a modern-day Guernica. We haven’t heard the leader of the Labour party speak out enough to demand UK air drops to besieged civilians who are dying in their thousands.”

A Labour spokesman said: “Jeremy has repeatedly condemned the Russian military intervention and bombing campaign in Syria and called for an independent investigation of evidence of war crimes.

“Labour has called for urgent talks to achieve a negotiated political settlement involving the main parties to the conflict, along with the regional and international intervening powers - and he has written to the Prime Minister today calling for a concerted effort to achieve a UN-led ceasefire and UN-brokered humanitarian corridors.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross’s Marianne Gasser, who is in Aleppo, appealed to all sides to “put humanity ahead of military objectives” as the forces advanced. “We stand ready to oversee the implementation of any mutual agreement that puts civilians first. We cannot urge this strongly enough: this must happen now.”