The health of three prisoners affiliated with the Palestine Action group who are on hunger strike has deteriorated significantly, with one entering the third month without food. Heba Muraisi, 31, is on day 65 and suffering from muscle spasms and breathing problems, while Kamran Ahmed, 28, on day 58, has reported intermittent hearing loss. Lewie Chiaramello, 22, who has type 1 diabetes, has been fasting every other day for 44 days.
Dr James Smith, an emergency physician at University College London, said the three are “well into the critical phase” and warned that “things can decline very quickly and irreversibly”. Ahmed, held at Pentonville prison and hospitalised for a fifth time last week, said he intends to continue his hunger strike, adding: “Perhaps they wait for me to leave in a body bag.”
The hunger strike began on 2 November with demands including immediate bail, ending the ban on Palestine Action, closing UK sites of Israeli arms company Elbit Systems, and ending censorship of prisoners’ communications. The three have spent over 18 months in jail before trial, exceeding the standard six-month pre-trial custody limit.
Five other prisoners have paused their hunger strike, the latest being Teuta Hoxha after 60 days. The action is believed to be the largest coordinated hunger strike in the UK since IRA prisoners in 1981, when 10 died. Ahmed said: “I don’t think any of the hunger strikers wish to die, but it’s funny, if I potentially pass away, does it only matter because I have a [UK] passport?”
Prisoners Minister James Timpson said prison healthcare teams are monitoring the situation and that ministers will not meet the prisoners, as it would be “unconstitutional and inappropriate” to intervene in ongoing legal cases. The Ministry of Justice warned that agreeing to their demands would create “perverse incentives” for others to put themselves at risk.
