A hunger strike by prisoners affiliated with the group Palestine Action has ended after 73 days, with participants claiming a partial victory after the UK government decided not to award a £2bn defence contract to Elbit Systems UK, a subsidiary of Israel's largest arms producer. The decision was described by the group Prisoners for Palestine as a key demand of the hunger strikers.
The strike, which began on 28 January 2025, involved Heba Muraisi, Kamran Ahmed, and Lewie Chiaramello, with four others on a 'pause'. Muraisi refused food for 73 days, equalling the longest survival of any hunger striker in the 1981 Irish republican action. Ahmed stopped on day 65, and Chiaramello also ended his strike. The announcement came late on Wednesday, with Shahmina Alam, Ahmed's sister, expressing relief but residual fear over the re-feeding process.
While the Elbit contract decision was seen as a win, other key demands were not met. These included immediate bail for the prisoners, none of whom have been convicted and all of whom will have spent over a year in jail before trial, and the de-proscription of Palestine Action as a proscribed organisation. However, a judicial review on the proscription is ongoing.
Prisoners for Palestine also pointed to other 'victories', such as the transfer of Muraisi back to HMP Bronzefield near her family, and the end of censorship of communications, with some prisoners receiving withheld mail. The group said that, in the last few weeks, 500 people had signed up to take direct action, more than the total number of people who have done so with Palestine Action overall.
The hunger strike drew international attention, including from US congresswoman Rachida Tlaib and UN experts, highlighting wider problems in the prison system. While not all demands were met, the group argued that the action had changed public discourse and influenced the Elbit contract decision, similar to how the 1981 Irish hunger strike retrospectively changed the course of the Northern Irish conflict.
