Palestine Action Activists Have Ended Their Hunger Strike After The UK Denied An Israeli Arms Firm A Defense Contract
Heba Muraisi, Kamran Ahmed and Lewie Chiaramello were on the brink of death after going on the hunger strike for 73, 66 and 46 days respectively.
Three Palestine Action activists who were on the brink of death have ended their hunger strike, after the UK government denied Elbit Systems, a UK-based subsidiary of a major Israeli weapons company, a defense contract.
31-year-old Heba Muraisi, 28-year-old Kamran Ahmed and 23-year-old Lewie Chiaramello had been part of a group of eight activists from Palestine Action who went on a hunger strike after they were detained by the UK government for more than a year awaiting trial.
Palestine Action is a pro-Palestine group founded in 2020 that uses non-violent direct action to disrupt the arms industry in the UK, which supplies the Israeli army with weapons used in its genocide in Gaza.
The group most frequently targets British factories linked to Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems.
It has been banned by the UK government since July 2025 as a “terrorist organization, making it illegal for people in the UK to be a member of or support Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act of 2000.
People found guilty of supporting Palestine Action will face penalties of up to 14 years in prison, similar to showing support for groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda.
Muraisi, Ahmed and Chiaramello were among the several Palestine Action activists detained by the UK government as part of the organization’s "Filton 24" and "Brize Norton 5" groups that broke into Elbit Systems' Filton facility in August 2024 and Royal Air Force base Brize Norton in June 2025 respectively.
The activists have now spent more than 12 months in custody awaiting trial, far beyond the UK’s six-month pre-trial detention limit that normally applies in England and Wales.
On Nov. 2, eight of the detainees were still in prison and began a hunger strike in protest against what they say is “systematic abuse” in the prisons.
The group had five key protest demands, including immediate bail, guarantee of a fair trial, the UK government de-proscripting Palestine Action, all 16 of Elbit’s sites in the UK to be closed and an end to authorities of withholding mail, calls and books.
They are Amu Gib, Heba Muraisi, Jon Cink, Kamran Ahmed, Teuta Hoxha, Qesser Zuhrah, Lewie Chiaramello and Umer Khalid.
Five of the activists have later ended their hunger strike over serious health concerns, but Muraisi, Ahmed and Chiaramellohad continued their hunger strike for 73, 66 and 46 days respectively before ending it on Wednesday, Jan. 14.
The Prisoners for Palestine group said in the statement that the activists — who were on the brink of death — had ended their strike after one of their key demands was achieved, according to Al Jazeera.
The group said that the UK government’s decision not to grant Elbit Systems UK a £2 billion contract that would have seen the company train 60,000 British troops a year, fulfilled a key demand of the activists.
“Our prisoners’ hunger strike will be remembered as a landmark moment of pure defiance; an embarrassment for the British state,” the group said.
Prisoners for Palestine said that the hunger strike had also achieved other victories, including 500 people signing up to take direct action “against the genocidal military-industrial complex” and authorities allowing Muraisi to be moved back to a prison near her home instead of a jail in northern England.
It said four out of five activists who had paused their hunger strike are also ending their action.
The group said that the activists have all begun refeeding in accordance with health guidance.
However, 22-year-old Khalid restarted his hunger strike on Saturday, Jan. 10, and is continuing to refuse food.
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