MORNING STAR ambassador Maxine Peake is donating a production hoodie from the film I Swear to fund scholarships for Palestinian students.

Ms Peake is among 23 celebrities, including Gary Lineker, Paloma Faith, Nicola Coughlan and Brian Cox, auctioning items to help students leave Gaza and take up offers from leading British universities.

Hundreds of students in Gaza have earned competitive places at top universities but most lack the funding needed.

The items are being sold as part of the Scholarships for Gaza auction, running for 10 days and organised by education charity Phoenix Space.

Paapa Essiedu, who plays Snape in the upcoming Harry Potter TV series, has donated his copy of the Philosopher’s Stone, saying: “I can’t imagine almost all universities being destroyed and the immense talent in every discipline wasted: no opportunities and no choice at all.

“What a beautiful thing if this book in some way can unlock the futures of these brilliant students, too.”

The war on Gaza has destroyed or damaged 95 per cent of higher education campuses, according to a UN-backed assessment, with Israeli forces having killed more than 1,000 people since a ceasefire began in October.

Mohammed Hasanain, 22, who has an offer to study for an MA at the University of Glasgow, said: “My days aren’t spent in a lecture hall as they are supposed to.

“Instead, they are spent worrying about surviving and if we will make it to the next day.”

If evacuated, he will be reunited with his brother Mahmoud, one of more than 100 students evacuated from Gaza to study at British universities last academic year.

The students hold offers from University College London, Imperial, and Edinburgh in subjects like artificial intelligence and cognitive neuroscience.