Supporters of three Palestine Action-affiliated prisoners on hunger strike have warned of a severe deterioration in their health, with one now entering her third month without food. Heba Muraisi, 31, is on day 65 of her strike and is reported to be suffering from muscle spasms and breathing problems, while Kamran Ahmed, 28, on day 58, has experienced intermittent hearing loss. The third prisoner, Lewie Chiaramello, 22, who has type 1 diabetes, has been fasting every other day for 44 days.
Dr James Smith, an emergency physician and lecturer at University College London, said the three were already "well into the critical phase", which he described as beyond three weeks, warning that "things can decline very quickly and irreversibly". Speaking through an intermediary, Ahmed, who is held at Pentonville prison and was hospitalised for a fifth time last week, said: "I'm worried but being scared does not mean for one second I am not willing as the government ministers play ping pong with our health. I intend to continue my hunger strike; perhaps they wait for me to leave in a body bag or [be] hospitalised for a sixth time."
The rolling hunger strike began on 2 November, with demands including immediate bail, ending the ban on Palestine Action, closing the UK sites of the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems and ending censorship of the prisoners' communications. Muraisi, Ahmed and Chiaramello will each have spent more than 18 months in jail before their trial for activities claimed by Palestine Action, well above the standard pre-trial custody limit of six months.
Five prisoners previously on hunger strike have paused their action, the latest being Teuta Hoxha, who stopped refusing food on Saturday after 60 days. The protest is believed to be the largest coordinated hunger strike in the UK since that by IRA prisoners in 1981, when 10 people died. The earliest death occurred after 46 days, and four died between 59 and 61 days.
Dr Smith dismissed "nonsense" from detractors questioning how the hunger strikers were still alive, saying their bodies were "breaking down as we speak" and that heart problems and infections were major risks. He added that hearing and visual problems were particularly concerning as they could indicate neurological dysfunction. The prisons minister, James Timpson, said healthcare teams provide NHS care and continuously monitor the situation, and that ministers would not meet the prisoners as it would be "entirely unconstitutional" to intervene in ongoing legal cases. The Ministry of Justice said agreeing to a meeting would create "perverse incentives" for others to put themselves at risk.
