Umer Khalid, a 22-year-old Palestine Action prisoner, has stopped drinking water as well as eating food in an ongoing hunger strike, prompting a doctor to warn that he could die within days. Dr Rupa Marya said that without fluid intake, death typically occurs within three to four days, and Khalid's pre-existing genetic disorder places him at even greater risk.
Khalid has been on hunger strike since November, briefly pausing at Christmas when he became unwell. He and seven others had stopped eating in protest against charges related to alleged break-ins and criminal damage carried out on behalf of Palestine Action. All have denied the charges and called for them to be dropped.
The other seven prisoners have now ended their actions, with the final three stopping 10 days ago after the government decided not to award a £2bn contract to Elbit Systems UK, an Israeli arms company subsidiary. Prisoners for Palestine said this fulfilled a key demand and marked a shift in official thinking.
Khalid has limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, a condition causing muscle weakness and wasting around key joints. He resumed his hunger strike 13 days ago after his earlier pause. Dr Marya, who is suspended by the University of California in San Francisco over online comments about Israel's war in Gaza, warned: 'With no fluid intake, typically people die of acute kidney failure... within three to four days. With Khalid’s underlying health condition, he is at increased risk of death even sooner.'
Among those who ended their hunger strike earlier this month, Heba Muraisi reached day 72, one day short of the record set by Irish republican hunger striker Kieran Doherty in 1981. Prisoners for Palestine noted that Elbit Systems UK had won more than ten public contracts since 2012, making the Ministry of Defence's decision not to award the latest contract a notable change.
