The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it had issued the requests, which asked the ICRC to monitor Ukraine’s compliance with international humanitarian law in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, which cover the protection of people caught up in armed conflicts.

McSweeney made clear his mission to those gathered in [the Labour Croydon North MP Steve] Reed’s parliamentary office: “to move the Labour party from the hard left when JC steps down as leader and to reconnect the Labour party with the country [and] build a sustainable winning electoral coalition…” He then pointed to a slide of soldiers holding up huge shields, completely covering their bodies. “Operation Red Shield,” he said. The first job, he argued, was to protect supportive MPs from accusations of disloyalty. The next slide zoomed in on a Greenpeace logo. This would be their model, McSweeney told the gathered MPs: soft branding that made them seem warm and cuddly.

After a few months working from a park bench, the group funded a small office in Vauxhall, and soon it reached out to former Labour advisers to work alongside them with a focus on online antisemitism. In an early review, they identified problem posts in hundreds of Facebook groups with links to either the party or leftwing politics. Some of these were aimed at Labour’s female Jewish MPs. They then farmed out the posts they uncovered to journalists who were themselves reporting on rising evidence of antisemitism on the left. Together with a row over whether the party would adopt all the examples linked to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, the scandal was becoming increasingly destabilising for Corbyn.

As for the Guardian schmoozing, I witnessed that first-hand. At the time, I was the joint political editor at the newspaper and found myself invited with colleagues to a dinner in a private dining room in the basement of Browns in Covent Garden. We sat on red chairs with gold trimming, set around a long, thin table covered with a white tablecloth, listening to McSweeney, Cruddas, Reed, [Wigan MP Lisa] Nandy and [Birmingham Ladywood MP Shabana] Mahmood tell us about Labour Together’s plans for renewal.

They had brought with them another MP who was just starting to do more with the group – Keir Starmer. The project was pitched, as planned, with the soft, cuddly Greenpeace framing. They neatly side-stepped our more cynical questions about their plans for a future leadership. Alongside me that night was Guardian news editor Dan Sabbagh, who has since told me he immediately wondered if Starmer was their candidate. Even if McSweeney was wondering about Starmer as a possible leader as early as 2017, it was not spoken about and another hopeful also later emerged from the same group. Back then, the mere prospect of an opportunity to either take control of Labour’s leadership or win a general election still felt very distant.

“Egypt is naturally the country hardest hit by this dangerous escalation. We are harmed every month by the severe decline in Suez Canal revenue as a result of this escalation.”

The top Egyptian diplomat said halting Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip is the key to ending the current tension in the Red Sea.

An Israel brigade commander dropped leaflets over parts of southern Lebanon ordering residents to evacuate without authorisation, the Israeli military said on Sunday.

The leaflets, often distributed by the Israeli military before major offensives, urged residents of the border village of Wazzani to “immediately leave” their homes and stay north of the Khiam region “until the end of the war”.

“Anyone present in this area after this time will be considered a terrorist,” the leaflet read in Arabic.

The facility is equipped to hold not only single adults, but also families and unaccompanied children. Those awaiting processing or repatriation to their country of origin are transported in black out vans “with hand restraints and black out goggles to obscure their vision,” according to an ICE contracting document.

According to a U.S. Navy document from 2021, migrants have limited communication with the outside world, with their few phone calls monitored for “restricted information,” including information about the navy base. Private prison ICE contractors are required to have at least 23 unarmed staff members on-site, dressed in “forest green” polo shirts and carrying batons and pepper spray, the ICE document says.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to dismiss Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and replace him with Gideon Sa’ar, the leader of the National Right Party, according to Israeli media on Monday.

Disagreements between Netanyahu and Gallant have surfaced over the government’s approach to the growing border escalation with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, Anadolu has reported. Gallant advocates exhausting diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tension, while Netanyahu is pushing for a large-scale military campaign.

Israel's Foreign Ministry accidentally released a statement condemning the International Criminal Court (ICC) over arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, despite no such decision being made yet.

The English-language statement was briefly posted on the ministry's website and later removed after circulating on social media.

Israel is known to spy on the ICC and often gains advanced knowledge of pending decisions. This surveillance, part of its broader intelligence strategy, allows Israel to prepare responses and take preemptive actions regarding international legal rulings that may affect its leaders or military personnel.

Israel is recruiting African refugees for "life-threatening" operations in Gaza in exchange for settled status in the country, sources have revealed. There are approximately 30,000 African asylum seekers in Israel. They have faced growing pressure from anti-immigrant politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who regularly refers to them as "infiltrators".

One man interviewed by Haaretz, who ultimately chose not to enlist, recounted being approached by a security official to join the war effort. The official explained that after a two-week training period, he would be deployed alongside other asylum seekers.

Haaretz noted that the "manner in which the Israeli army deploys the asylum seekers is barred from publication" due to restrictions imposed by the Israeli military censor.

Palestinians have warned of an imminent famine in the northern Gaza Strip as an ongoing Israeli blockade has forced five out of six functioning bakeries to shut down in the region, Anadolu news agency reported.

“Five out of six bakeries in northern Gaza have shut down due to Israel’s blockade on the entry of fuel and raw materials needed to produce bread,” Kamel Ajjour, a baker owner, told Anadolu on Sunday. Ajjour emphasized that fuel has not been delivered to bakeries in northern Gaza for over 10 days.

“The supply of critical ingredients such as flour, sugar, and yeast has been significantly reduced for nearly a month,” he said, warning of a severe bread crisis if his bakery also halted operations in northern Gaza.

After denials for months, the Israeli military says there is a “high probability” its air strike was responsible for the deaths of three Israeli captives in Gaza in November.

A long-range ballistic missile fired from Yemen has hit central Israel, sparking fire, according to the Israeli military.

The missile triggered air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel, including the Ben Gurion international airport, sending residents running for shelter. There were no reports of casualties or damage, and the airport authority said normal operations resumed shortly after.

Houthis’ Saba news agency said the Israeli defence system could not shoot down the Yemeni missile, which caused a fire. “A Yemeni missile reached Israel after ’20 missiles failed to intercept’ it,” Nasruddin Amer, a Houthi media official, posted on X.