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Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn gives jam as swathe of film and TV celebrities add support, including Zone of Interest’s Jonathan Glazer and Thor’s Tessa Thompson A host of film directors and stars, including Susan Sarandon, Paul Mescal and Olivia Colman, have added their names to those offering time and memorabilia to a Cinema for Gaza auction that is raising funds for humanitarian relief...

Families succeed in legal challenges after Home Office refused to decide on reunion applications without biometric dataFamilies in Gaza have won a legal case against the Home Office after a judge ruled the department’s decisions were a “disproportionate interference” in their right to a family life.Two challenges were brought against the Home Office in February this year after it refused to decide on family...

Alex Younger’s claim that insufficient care is being paid to collateral risks comes as UK is urged to suspend arms sales to IsraelMiddle East crisis – live updatesIsrael’s actions in Gaza have “bordered on the reckless”, a former head of MI6 has said, amid pressure on the UK government to stop arms sales.Alex Younger, who led the Secret Intelligence Service between 2014 and 2020,...

Exclusive: YouGov survey indicates loss of support among people in Britain for Israel’s war in GazaA majority of voters in Britain back a ban on arms sales to Israel, according to a YouGov poll.One of the first up-to-date assessments of whether Israel is losing public support in key allied states, the research also suggests most people believe the Israeli government is violating human rights...

Cross-party group of peers expected to ask for more details about why minister made and withdrew claims about two academicsThe cabinet minister Michelle Donelan is to face more questioning this week over her judgment after taxpayers funded a payout to an academic she had falsely accused of supporting Hamas.The science secretary will appear before a cross-party group of peers on Tuesday, when she is...

Fifth major pro-Palestine rally of the year comes after government adviser warns against portraying protesters as extremistThousands of protesters are expected to gather again in central London to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the fifth major pro-Palestine demonstration in the capital so far this year.Saturday’s protest comes a day after Dame Sara Khan, a UK government adviser on social cohesion, said attempts...

Exclusive: Dame Sara Khan warns that framing demonstrations as Islamist extremism is ‘far-fetched and untrue’A UK government adviser on social cohesion has described attempts to portray protesters on pro-Palestinian marches as extremist as “outrageous” and dangerous.Dame Sara Khan, who is carrying out a review of the resilience of the UK’s democracy for Michael Gove, said such claims risked further dividing the country. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: As Israel’s position weakens on the international stage, differences in language between different ceasefire calls tell a complicated story• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. The daily details of the horror being visited on civilians in Gaza can make any conversation about the language of ceasefire proposals being put forward in foreign capitals seem absurd.A massive majority...

Husam Zomlot says family members who died while sheltering in city include seven-year-old twins and 15-month-oldThe Palestinian ambassador to the UK has said eight of his relatives who were sheltering in the southern Gaza town of Rafah have been killed in an Israeli strike.Husam Zomlot identified a girl in a distressing photo that has been widely shared online as his wife’s seven-year-old cousin Sidra...

Met police ban face coverings in Westminster as organisers accuse force of bowing to political pressureMiddle East crisis – live updatesHundreds of thousands of pro-Palestine demonstrators are expected to march through central London on Saturday in the UK’s first national demonstration since the UN’s international court of justice ordered Israel to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide in Gaza.Organisers have said...

About 1,700 officers on duty in UK capital to police demonstration on day for action involving 30 countriesMiddle East crisis – live updatesThousands of people marched through central London on Saturday to show solidarity with Palestine and to reiterate calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.Demonstrators met on Queen Victoria Street before making their way along Fleet Street towards Parliament Square. The protest, part of...

Joe Biden says he ‘will not hesitate to direct further measures’ to protect international waterways after attacks on Red Sea shippingMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe US and the UK launched air and missile strikes in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, aimed at halting attacks on ships in the Red Sea, Washington and London announced overnight.Joe Biden, the US president, said American and British forces,...

Protesters also call for UK to stop arms sales to Israel and end to Israeli occupation of PalestineMiddle East crisis – live updatesHundreds of protesters in London have staged a sit-in on Westminster Bridge, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in the first big demonstration of the year.Elsewhere on Saturday, there were protests in Belfast and Dublin. Continue reading...

Demonstrators in and around Oxford Street campaign against retailers including Puma, Hewlett-Packard and AxaIsrael-Gaza war: latest updatesHundreds of people have marched along Oxford Street in London calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a boycott of “Israel-linked” brands, as traffic in the busy shopping district was brought to a standstill days before Christmas.“There can be no Christmas as usual while a genocide is...