{"id":668363,"date":"2026-01-02T05:58:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T05:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/668363\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T05:58:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T05:58:21","slug":"who-are-the-palestine-action-hunger-strikers-human-rights-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/668363\/","title":{"rendered":"Who are the Palestine Action hunger strikers? | Human Rights News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four members of the Palestine Action group, which has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom, are continuing<\/a> with their hunger strikes<\/a> in different prisons around the country.<\/p>\n

Four other Palestine Action members have ended their hunger strikes \u2013 some after being hospitalised.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

Here is what we know about the four remaining hunger strikers.<\/p>\n

Why are the Palestine Action protesters on hunger strike?<\/p>\n

Imprisoned Palestine Action members have been on hunger strikes in prisons around the UK for more than 50 days.<\/p>\n

The Palestine Action members are being held on remand in prisons over their alleged involvement in break-ins<\/a>\u00a0at the UK subsidiary of Elbit Systems in Filton near Bristol, where equipment was reportedly damaged, and at a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire, where two military aircraft were sprayed with red paint.<\/p>\n

The prisoners deny the charges against them, which include burglary and violent disorder.<\/p>\n

Of the four still on hunger strikes, three were imprisoned in November 2024 for their alleged involvement in break-ins<\/a> at the UK subsidiary of Israeli weapons group Elbit Systems in Filton near Bristol, where equipment was reportedly damaged. One has been in prison since July 2025 for alleged involvement in damage at a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire, where two military aircraft were sprayed with red paint.<\/p>\n

Palestine Action, a protest group launched in July 2020, describes itself as a movement \u201ccommitted to ending global participation in Israel\u2019s genocidal and apartheid regime\u201d.<\/p>\n

The UK parliament voted in favour<\/a> of proscribing the group on July 2, 2025, classifying it as a \u201cterrorist\u201d organisation and bringing it into the same category as armed groups like al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS). Critics decried the move, arguing that while members of the group have caused damage to property, they have not committed acts of violence that amount to terrorism.<\/p>\n

More than 1,600 arrests linked to support for Palestine Action were made in the three months following the ban\u2019s introduction. The ban has been challenged in court.<\/p>\n

The hunger strikers have five key demands<\/a>: immediate bail, the right to a fair trial \u2013 which they say includes the release of documents related to \u201cthe ongoing witch-hunt of activists and campaigners\u201d \u2013 ending censorship of their communications, \u201cde-proscribing\u201d Palestine Action and shutting down Elbit Systems, which operates several UK factories.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UK government has forced their bodies to a breaking point,\u201d pro-Palestine activist Audrey Corno told Al Jazeera Mubasher.<\/p>\n

\u201cA promise to the government is that the prisoners\u2019 resistance and the people\u2019s resistance against the genocide [in Gaza], Israel\u2019s occupation and apartheid of genocide will not stop until it ends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who are the remaining hunger strikers?<\/p>\n

Heba Muraisi, Kamran Ahmed, Teuta Hoxha and Lewie Chiaramello are the four people, aged between 20 and 31, who are continuing their hunger strikes.<\/p>\n

Heba Muraisi<\/p>\n

Muraisi, 31, was on day 60 of her hunger strike on Thursday. She is being held in HMP [His Majesty\u2019s Prison] New Hall in Wakefield, a prison in West Yorkshire about 180 miles (290km) north of London.<\/p>\n

Muraisi was arrested in November 2024 for her alleged role in an August 2024 raid on the Israel-based Elbit Systems in Bristol, which is believed to have cost the Israeli weapons manufacturer more than $1.34m.<\/p>\n

According to social media posts, Muraisi is of Yemeni origin. However, Al Jazeera could not independently verify this.<\/p>\n

She was transferred to the West Yorkshire prison in October 2025 from HMP Bronzefield in Surrey, about 18 miles from the UK capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cHeba is demanding to be transferred back to HMP Bronzefield. She was transferred very suddenly, very far away from her entire support network and family, which is based in London. She\u2019s been experiencing consistent medical negligence. Her body is, as you\u2019d imagine, increasingly weak,\u201d Corno said.<\/p>\n

In a statement shared with Al Jazeera on December 29, Muraisi said: \u201cI\u2019ve been force-fed repression and I\u2019m stuffed with rage and that\u2019s why I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing now. I am bringing acute awareness to the unjust application of UK laws by our Government and I\u2019m glad that people can now see this after a year of imprisonment and human rights violations. Keep going, keep fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Muraisi\u2019s trial is set for June 2026, according to the protest group Prisoners For Palestine.<\/p>\n

\"HebaHeba Muraisi [Courtesy of Prisoners for Palestine]Kamran Ahmed<\/p>\n

Ahmed, 28, was also arrested in November 2024 and is being held in HMP Pentonville in north London. He was also arrested for his alleged involvement in the raid on Elbit Systems in Bristol. Ahmed has been on a hunger strike for more than 50 days.<\/p>\n

According to a report by Middle East Eye, Ahmed is a mechanic.<\/p>\n

Ahmed was hospitalised<\/a> for a third time on December 20 after he refused food, his sister, Shahmina Alam, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that he\u2019s rapidly been losing weight in the last few days, losing up to half a kilogramme [1.1lbs] a day,\u201d Alam told Al Jazeera in late December.<\/p>\n

Ahmed, who is 180cm (5\u203211\u2032), entered prison at a healthy 74kg (163lbs), but his last recorded weight was 60kg (132lbs).<\/p>\n

\u201cKamran has been hospitalised for the fourth time recently,\u201d Corno said.<\/p>\n

\"KamranKamran Ahmed [Courtesy of Prisoners for Palestine]Teuta Hoxha<\/p>\n

Hoxha, 29, was on day 54 of her hunger strike on Thursday. She is being held at HMP Peterborough. She was also arrested in November 2024 on allegations of involvement in the Elbit Systems raid.<\/p>\n

According to Prisoners for Palestine, Hoxha was moved from HMP Bronzefield on the day UK parliamentarians voted to proscribe Palestine Action \u2013 July 2, 2025.<\/p>\n

Corno told Al Jazeera that she is in regular contact with Hoxha and that she has been having heart palpitations. \u201cShe\u2019s not been able to sleep through the night for weeks on end. I can see her memory start to deteriorate.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement published on the Prisoners for Palestine website, Hoxha said: \u201cThis is a witch hunt, not a fair fight, and that behind the arrests of dissenting voices under counterterrorism powers, holding us on remand without trial for nearly two years and targeting protesters who condemn Palestinian suffering, is the palpably desperate attempt to force us all under the imperial boot of submission.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TeutaTeuta Hoxha [Courtesy of Prisoners for Palestine]Lewie Chiaramello<\/p>\n

Chiaramello, 22, has type 1 diabetes and hence, he has been fasting every other day. He is on day 28 of his hunger strike.<\/p>\n

He has been held in HMP Bristol since July 2025 in connection with an incident at RAF Brize Norton, according to Prisoners for Palestine, and faces charges of conspiring to enter a restricted area for purposes harmful to the UK\u2019s safety and interests, as well as conspiracy to commit criminal damage. His trial is set for January 18, 2027.<\/p>\n

On June 20, a group of Palestine Action activists broke into RAF Brize Norton<\/a>, the largest Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire, and sprayed two military planes with red paint, causing an estimated $9.4m worth of damage.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been having to manage his insulin intake on his own with no medical supervision,\u201d Corno said.<\/p>\n

\"LewieLewie Chiaramello [Courtesy of Prisoners for Palestine]Who else has been on a hunger strike?<\/p>\n

Four other imprisoned Palestine Action activists have ended their hunger strikes, mostly after being hospitalised.<\/p>\n

This includes Qesser Zuhrah, 20 and Amu Gib, 30, who are being held at Bronzefield prison in Surrey. The pair began their hunger strikes on November 2 to coincide with the Balfour declaration<\/a> of 1917, when Britain pledged to establish a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine.<\/p>\n

Umar Khalid, 22, who has muscular dystrophy, ended his hunger strike after 13 days. Jon Cink ended his hunger strike after 41 days when he was hospitalised. Qesser Zuhrah ended her hunger strike after 48 days and was hospitalised. Amy Gib was also hospitalised.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four members of the Palestine Action group, which has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the United…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":668364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[748,393,299,13641,4884,4582,46255,7424,839,12,1144,1814,18939,2579,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-668363","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-explainer","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-human-rights","15":"tag-hunger","16":"tag-israel-palestine-conflict","17":"tag-middle-east","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-northern-ireland","20":"tag-palestine","21":"tag-prison","22":"tag-protests","23":"tag-scotland","24":"tag-uk","25":"tag-united-kingdom","26":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115823975199763532","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=668363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/668364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=668363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=668363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=668363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}