In the United Kingdom, a high-profile hunger strike by detainees linked to the banned activist group Palestine Action has entered its seventh week, drawing urgent warnings from healthcare professionals, mounting legal challenges, and a wave of public and political scrutiny. The episode has thrust the government’s handling of protest, pre-trial detention, and the controversial proscription of Palestine Action into the national spotlight, while evoking memories of historic hunger strikes from Britain’s past.
As of December 22, 2025, four prisoners—Heba Muraisi, Teuta Hoxha, Kamran Ahmad, and Amy Gardiner-Gibson (also known as Amu Gib)—remain on hunger strike, with some refusing food for up to 51 days. Three others, including Qesser Zuhrah, have ended their protests, with Zuhrah halting her strike after 48 days and being hospitalized amid concerns about denied medical care. A final member of the group is said to be intermittently refusing food due to an underlying health condition. According to the BBC, lawyers for the group have described the protest as “the largest coordinated hunger strike in British history since 1981.”
The detainees, aged between 20 and 31, have been held on remand for over a year—well beyond the UK’s six-month pre-trial detention limit—while awaiting trial for alleged break-ins at a factory operated by Israel’s leading weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems, near Bristol, and a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire. The charges include aggravated burglary, criminal damage, and unauthorized entry, all of which the prisoners deny. Notably, Lewie Chiaramello, another accused, is on a partial hunger strike due to diabetes, refusing food every other day.
The hunger strikers’ demands are both personal and political. They call for immediate bail, the right to a fair trial—including the release of documents they say pertain to a “witch-hunt” against activists—an end to what they describe as censorship of their communications, the removal of Palestine Action from the UK’s list of terrorist organizations, and the closure of Elbit Systems’ UK operations. They also allege that authorities have withheld access to mail, calls, and books, further isolating them from the outside world.
Supporters and family members have voiced grave concerns about the prisoners’ health and the conditions of their detention. Two detainees were hospitalized in mid-December, and the situation has prompted more than 800 doctors to write to Justice Secretary David Lammy, warning that “without resolution, there is the real and increasingly likely potential that young British citizens will die in prison, having never even been convicted of an offence.” The letter called for rigorous medical monitoring, including twice-daily assessments and daily blood tests, as well as 24-hour medical cover.
Healthcare oversight bodies have taken notice. The Care Quality Commission, which supervises prison healthcare in England, confirmed to the BBC that it has contacted HMP Bronzefield—where some of the hunger strikers are held—seeking assurance that proper procedures are in place after “information of concern” was received. However, the Commission has not disclosed the details of the response.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has repeatedly stated that it wants the prisoners to “accept support and get better” but is wary of creating “perverse incentives” that could encourage further hunger strikes. “While very concerning, hunger strikes are not a new issue for our prisons. Over the last five years, we’ve averaged over 200 a year and we have longstanding procedures in place to ensure prisoner safety,” said Lord Timpson, Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending. He added, “Prison healthcare teams provide NHS care and continuously monitor the situation. HMPPS are clear that claims that hospital care is being refused are entirely misleading—they will always be taken when needed and a number of these prisoners have already been treated in hospital.”
The government’s stance is that remand decisions rest with independent judges, and that ministers cannot and should not intervene in ongoing legal cases. “We have a justice system that is based on the separation of powers, and the independent judiciary is the cornerstone of our system. It would be entirely unconstitutional and inappropriate for ministers to intervene in ongoing legal cases,” Lord Timpson explained. The Ministry of Justice also emphasized that it does not comment on the management of individual prisoners but encourages complaints to be raised through established channels.
Legal representatives for the hunger strikers have threatened to seek judicial review if the government does not engage in talks. In a detailed warning letter, they gave ministers until December 23, 2025, to respond or risk being taken to the High Court. “Our clients’ food refusal constitutes the largest co-ordinated hunger strike in British history since 1981,” the letter read, referencing the IRA hunger strikes of that era, which resulted in the deaths of 12 republican prisoners and became a defining moment in the Troubles.
The hunger strikers and their supporters draw direct parallels to those historic protests, arguing that their actions are politically motivated and should not be treated as ordinary criminal conduct. The 1981 IRA hunger strike, led by Bobby Sands, galvanized nationalist sentiment and forced a re-examination of the British government’s approach to dissent. Today, former Irish republican hunger strikers like Tommy McKearney and Bernadette Devlin McAliskey have expressed support for the current prisoners, underlining the symbolic resonance of the protest.
At the heart of the hunger strike is the controversial July 2025 decision by the UK government to designate Palestine Action as a terrorist organization—a move typically reserved for groups like ISIL (ISIS). The ban has been challenged in court, and the High Court is currently reviewing the home secretary’s decision, with a judgment expected in early 2026. In the three months following the ban, over 1,600 arrests were made in connection with support for Palestine Action.
Palestine Action and its supporters claim the UK government is complicit in Israeli war crimes in Gaza, pointing to a death toll exceeding 70,000 and citing a United Nations inquiry that labeled Israel’s actions as genocide. The hunger strikers view their protest as an act of solidarity with Palestinians, whom they say have been abandoned by Western governments. In a voice recording from prison, Amu Gib lamented “a society that imprisons its conscience.” Teuta Hoxha, on her 40th day without food, reportedly suffers from low blood pressure, chest tightness, and other serious symptoms. Her sister told Sky News that Hoxha feels “weak” and is preparing to die.
Public support for the detainees has grown, with more than 20,000 people signing a petition urging Justice Secretary Lammy to intervene, and over 50 Members of Parliament calling for a meeting with the prisoners’ lawyers. Labour MP John McDonnell told Al Jazeera, “There’s a real anxiety now about what the hell is going on. Why aren’t we intervening as a government? Why aren’t we sorting this out? There’s an increasing worry that we’re in a situation now which is highly risky.”
As the hunger strike continues, the case has become a flashpoint in national debates over protest rights, pre-trial detention, and the boundaries of government power. The outcome of the High Court’s review of Palestine Action’s proscription, and the fate of the hunger strikers themselves, could set precedents for years to come.
For now, the prisoners’ protest endures as both a humanitarian crisis and a political test for the UK’s justice system, with the eyes of the world—and history—watching closely.
