{"id":501412,"date":"2026-01-08T13:29:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T13:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/501412\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T13:29:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T13:29:20","slug":"palestine-action-hunger-strikers-near-death-intent-on-continuing-protests-israel-palestine-conflict-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/501412\/","title":{"rendered":"Palestine Action hunger strikers near death \u2018intent\u2019 on continuing protests | Israel-Palestine conflict News"},"content":{"rendered":"

London, United Kingdom \u2013<\/strong> Heba Muraisi and Kamran Ahmed, Palestine Action<\/a>-linked British activists on the brink of death, are determined to keep up their prison hunger strike until their demands are met, their friends and relatives have told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

They have refused food for 67 and 60 days, respectively, as part of a rolling protest that began in November. Five of the eight individuals who have participated overall have ended their hunger strikes over health fears. Lewie Chiaramello, who turned 23 on Thursday, is the third prisoner also refusing food.<\/p>\n

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Muraisi, the longest fasting member of the group, \u201clooks very pale and thin\u201d, said her friend Amareen Afzal, who visited the 31-year-old on Wednesday. \u201cHer cheekbones are quite prominent. She looks quite emaciated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Muraisi, a Londoner who had worked as a florist and lifeguard, is reportedly suffering from muscle spasms, breathlessness, severe pain and a low white blood cell count. She has been admitted to hospital three times over the past nine weeks. Afzal has also noticed the decline of Muraisi\u2019s memory and said it is now \u201cmore difficult for her to stay engaged conversationally\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe speaks of herself as dying and she\u2019s very aware and she is worried,\u201d Afzal said.<\/p>\n

But Muraisi is \u201cintent on carrying on until the demands are met\u201d, she added.<\/p>\n

The group of remand prisoners are being held in various jails over their alleged involvement in break-ins at the UK subsidiary of the Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems in Bristol and a Royal Air Force (RAF) base in Oxfordshire. They deny the charges against them.<\/p>\n

Their protest demands include bail, the right to a fair trial and the de-proscription of Palestine Action, which the UK in July designated as a \u201cterrorist organisation\u201d, putting it on par with ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda. They are calling for all Elbit sites to be closed in the UK and have demanded an end to what they call censorship in prison, accusing authorities of withholding mail, calls and books.<\/p>\n

All eight individuals will have spent more than a year in prison before their trials take place, well beyond the UK\u2019s usual six-month pre-trial detention limit.<\/p>\n

At the time of publishing, the Ministry of Justice had not responded to Al Jazeera\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n

\u2018It feels like now every time you see him, it could be the last\u2019<\/p>\n

Ahmed, a mechanic from London, has lost hearing in his left ear, suffers with chest pains, breathlessness and dizzy spells, and has a low heart rate that intermittently drops below 40 beats per minute, said Shahmina Alam, who visited her 28-year-old brother on Sunday.<\/p>\n

He was admitted to hospital on Tuesday for a sixth time since he began refusing food in November, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s skinny. I describe him a bit like a piece of paper,\u201d she told Al Jazeera. \u201cWhere his body\u2019s lost a lot of weight, he\u2019s a bit hunched over.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis cheeks are sticking out. \u2026 When he got up to leave, it\u2019s really like slow steps, and you can tell it takes a lot of energy to lift his legs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like now every time you see him, it could be the last.\u201d<\/p>\n

She feels anxious as \u201cthe more time that\u2019s going, the more resolved he is to continue it and ensure that his demands are met.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahmed is \u201caware that at this stage he could suddenly pass away\u201d, she said, but \u201che\u2019s still determined.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s lawyers<\/a> are calling for a meeting with David Lammy, the deputy prime minister and justice secretary, hoping to discuss the prisoners\u2019 welfare. Despite criticism from doctors<\/a>, United Nations experts, some politicians and leading barristers<\/a>, the government has refused, saying hunger strikes are not unusual in prisons and policies regarding food refusal are being followed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t be in this position had the government chosen to engage in a meaningful conversation with \u2026 [Ahmed\u2019s] legal representatives or even just a mediator,\u201d Alam said.<\/p>\n

Doctor warns of death, irreversible health damage<\/p>\n

Chiaramello has refused food every other day for several weeks because he has type 1 diabetes.<\/p>\n

He has been \u201calmost perpetually quite ill\u201d, said his partner, Nneoma Joe-Ejim, a trainee solicitor, who visited him on Wednesday. She fears he is at a higher risk of a diabetic coma.<\/p>\n

On the days he fasts, he suffers from disorientation, dizziness and sluggishness, she said, adding that she is worried about his new feelings of depression.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe does seem depleted a lot of the time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

James Smith, an emergency physician who is among a group of doctors advising the hunger strikers, warned of a critical phase in which death and irreversible health damage are increasingly likely. He also criticised the manner and level of medical care within the prison system.<\/p>\n

Teuta Hoxha, who ended her hunger strike<\/a> after 58 days, is understood to be in hospital while Amu Gib, who paused their protest after 50 days, remains \u201cphysically weak\u201d, Gib\u2019s friend Nida Jafri said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmu has no [doctor\u2019s] advice on refeeding right now,\u201d she told Al Jazeera. \u201cThey\u2019re left to using their own judgement to figure out how much and of what food they should eat. We, as loved ones, are terrified of this. We are aware that the reintroduction of food can be deadly if done incorrectly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LewieLewie Chiaramello, a landscaper and children\u2019s football coach alleged to have participated in a break-in at an RAF base, is refusing food on alternative days because he has type 1 diabetes [Courtesy of Nneoma Joe-Ejim]<\/p>\n

Muraisi is \u201cwasting away\u201d, Smith said, adding that her muscle spasms as well as Ahmed\u2019s hearing loss could signal neurological issues. Chiaramello\u2019s diabetic state is likely worsening and could cause long-term damage, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trajectory that they are on at the moment can only end in one way, which is progressive decline and eventually death,\u201d he told Al Jazeera. \u201cThe organs can hold out for quite some time, particularly in young healthy individuals, and then they can collapse very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hundreds of doctors have called on the UK government to increase the frequency of medical observations of the hunger strikers.<\/p>\n

Several of the activists are said to have been handcuffed and restrained while in hospital, leading to claims of degrading and dehumanising procedures that overreach stated prison policies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really is the most undignified treatment that I have ever come across in an NHS [National Health Service] environment in my career as a doctor,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

Alam concurred, saying Ahmed fears hospital admissions because he finds the experience \u201cmentally difficult\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s cuffed constantly\u201d while in hospital, which has led to bruised wrists, and is surrounded by a larger number of prison guards, she said.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, supporters of the protesters drew parallels with history-shaping hunger strikes.<\/a><\/p>\n

The current action is said to be the largest coordinated hunger strike in British history since 1981 when Irish Republican inmates were led by Bobby Sands. Sands and nine others died of starvation.<\/p>\n

Muraisi\u2019s 66th day of refusing food was \u201csignificant because it was on the 66th day of hunger strike that Bobby Sands died at the hands of the state\u201d, the Prisoners for Palestine group said.<\/p>\n

Francesca Nadin, the group\u2019s spokesperson, told Al Jazeera that she accuses the government of \u201ccomplete contempt for the safety and for the lives of these innocent young people because they are innocent until proven guilty.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government seems to forget about that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"London, United Kingdom \u2013 Heba Muraisi and Kamran Ahmed, Palestine Action-linked British activists on the brink of death,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":501413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[440,99,13191,50,5332,7237,376],"class_list":{"0":"post-501412","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-europe","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-israel-palestine-conflict","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-prison","13":"tag-protests","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115859722483173457","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}