Three Labour councillors have been suspended after posting anti-Semitic comments on Facebook, one of which claimed that Israel was behind the so-called IS.

This leaves party leader Jeremy Corbyn in a difficult position, as his party look to hold on to key council seats at Thursday’s local elections.

Councillor Shah Hussain was suspended on Monday afternoon in connection with tweets directed a former Liverpool, West Ham and Israel footballer Yossi Benayoun.

During the 2014 Gaza conflict, Mr Hussain told the player:

"You are an complete and utter plonker, you and your country doing the same thing that hitler did to ur race in ww2."

Labour was also forced to suspend Nottingham city councillor Ilyas Aziz for posts suggesting that Israel should be relocated to the US.

Mr Aziz also posted a link to an article about Nazi Germany with the comments: "A reminder of the treatment and suffering of Jews in Nazi Germany. Are there any similarities to how Israel is treating Palestinians?"

Mr Corbyn has been roundly criticised for failing to take a tougher line on anti-Semitism in the party but last week finally ordered an independent inquiry into the problem. Shadow cabinet minister Diane Abbott however, said it was "a smear to say that the Labour Party has a problem with anti-Semitism" and said there had only been 12 incidents reported since Mr Corbyn came to power.

Former Blackburn mayor Salim Mulla was also suspended for sharing pictures making allegations that French and Japanese support for the Palestinians was somehow connected to retaliation attacks by IS terrorists.

He posted the images in August with the comment:

"Is this a coincidence. You b***** daam right it is. We all know Zionism game being played. It's b***** obvious who is manipulating (sic) this. Those who are not sure. ISRAEL."