Pro-Palestine prisoners pause hunger strike amid severe health crisis, but vow to resume fight

Two Palestine Action-affiliated prisoners have temporarily ended their hunger strikes as their health worsens, while pledging their protest against the UK government’s treatment of Palestinian activists will resume in the New Year.

Qesser Zuhrah and Amu Gib have resumed eating, according to a statement from the Prisoners for Palestine group on Tuesday.

Zuhrah ended her strike after 48 days, while Gib resumed eating after 49 days. Both are being held on remand at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey.

“To our government, do not release your breath, because we will certainly return to battle you with our empty stomachs in the New Year, when you have shamefully returned from your blood-soaked break, to the theatrics of your ‘democracy’," said Zuhrah, 20.

Gib, 30, said, “We have never trusted the government with our lives, and we will not start now. There will be no turkey dinner and break in the Zionist program of genocide. We are committed to the resistance of their script, not until Christmas, but for the rest of our lives … we will be the ones to decide how we give our lives to justice and liberation.”

Zuhrah’s hunger strike was interrupted after she was refused an ambulance for more than 18 hours at HMP Bronzefield, sparking a protest outside the prison that was attended by Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana.

The two were part of a group of eight prisoners on hunger strike in protest against charges connected to break-ins and property damage carried out on behalf of Palestine Action, which was banned under UK terrorism legislation in July. Palestine Action has categorically rejected the charges and demanded they be dropped.

Four other detainees, Kamran Ahmed, Heba Muraisi, Teuta Hoxha, and Lewie Chiaramello, remain on hunger strike.

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Prisoners for Palestine issued updated demands on Tuesday, including transferring Muraisi, currently at HMP New Hall in West Yorkshire, back to Bronzefield.

A spokesperson for Prisoners for Palestine condemned the UK prison system for isolating detainees and restricting access to basic rights.

“The remaining four will continue to refuse food on the basis of their five demands,” they said, “including ending all non-association orders; Heba’s transfer back to HMP Bronzefield; and equal access to courses and activities afforded to sentenced prisoners. Non-association orders further isolate prisoners, even when held in the same facility, and Heba has been moved across the country, away from her family and support network in London. Extended remand periods should not deny prisoners the same access to programs as others.”

Earlier this month, Jon Cink and Umer Khalid ended their 41-day and 13-day hunger strikes for health reasons. Both were hospitalized and have since returned to prison.

The hunger strike by the eight participants, which began on November 2, 2025, is the largest in UK prisons since the 1981 Irish hunger strike. All the participants face charges linked to protests at sites, including Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems headquarters in the UK, the Filton research hub, and Royal Air Force (RAF) Brize Norton.

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