London, UK – Following what supporters describe as the longest hunger strike in UK prison’ history, a 22-year-old prisoner is now refusing fluids until the government shows willingness to negotiate on his demands.
Umer Khalid announced on January 10 that he would be resuming his hunger strike alongside other prisoners associated with Palestine Action, an activist group campaigning against UK-based Israeli arms manufacturing. The prisoners are calling for a fair trial, de-proscription of the activist group, and immediate bail, among others.
Khalid is currently being held at HMP Wormwood Scrubs in London, accused of participating in a break-in at the Royal Air Force’s Brize Norton base organized by Palestine Action. In a message shared by supporters, he declared that if the government did not show willingness to engage with his demands by January 24, he would escalate to a thirst strike.
“He is furious at the government’s willingness to allow the other prisoners to become so [unwell] that they felt they had to stop or die, and he wants to force their hand in respecting their responsibilities as people in positions of power,” Khalid’s friend, Danyal, told EU Reports.
A historic hunger strike
The hunger strike began on November 2, 2025, on the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration – a British pledge to establish a Jewish state in Palestine –, when prisoners Qesser Zuhrah and Amu Gib refused food.
Six others later joined them, including individuals allegedly linked to actions at Brize Norton and an alleged attack on Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems’s factory in the southwestern town of Filton, near Bristol.
Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer and a key supplier to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). Since the group’s inception, Palestine Action’s aim has been to shut down Elbit Systems’s operations in the UK.
Supporters say the protest became the largest coordinated hunger strike in UK prisons since the 1981 Irish Republican hunger strikes.
On January 14, 2026, the remaining hunger strikers, aside from Khalid, announced they were ending their protest after finding out that the Ministry of Defence denied Elbit Systems a £2 billion (€2.31 billion) training contract.
By that point, strikers Heba Muraisi and Kamran Ahmed had refused food for 72 and 65 days, respectively, and faced serious medical complications and the risk of sudden death, as per Al Jazeera.
Lewie Chiaramello, 22, had been fasting on alternate days and was also considered medically vulnerable due to a type-1 diabetes diagnosis.
Despite pressure from doctors, legal experts, and family members, the UK government has so far refused to meet with lawyers representing the striking prisoners.
The Ministry of Justice told The Guardian they would not meet with the hunger strikers, stating: “We will not create perverse incentives that would encourage more people to put themselves at risk through hunger strikes.”
For Danyal and other supporters, the government’s lack of response shows they are willing to let the prisoners die rather than listen to their demands.
“To say it is deeply shameful just doesn’t quite feel enough,” said Danyal. “I think that if they continue to just ignore this right now, that in years to come, they will be held to account.”
The demands: better prison conditions and transparency on UK-Israel collaboration
Beyond their legal demands, the prisoners are calling on the UK government to end what they describe as complicity in Israel’s military actions in Gaza and the criminalization of protest in solidarity with Palestinians.
Prisoners associated with Palestine Action have reported abuse and harassment while in custody, including being denied access to employment and recreation opportunities; having items with symbols loosely related to Palestine confiscated; having social visits restricted or cancelled; and being denied freedom to practice their religion.
Some have been held on remand since August 2024, exceeding the legal limit of six months prior to a trial. They were denied bail under counter-terrorism powers despite not being charged with a terrorism offense.
The hunger strikers are also demanding the release of information which they believe could impact the fairness of their trials, the first of which started on November 17, 2025. This includes communications between UK officials, police, or attorney generals and Israeli officials or representatives of Elbit Systems.
Freedom of Information requests filed by Declassified UK show that Elbit Systems shares intelligence with UK police and met with government officials on several occasions to discuss Palestine Action.
Specifically for the Brize Norton 5 case, Khalid is calling for full disclosure of evidence regarding damage to the air base, and the release of RAF surveillance footage taken when seven World Central Kitchen workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
He is also demanding that the government re-open MP Jeremy Corbyn’s proposed inquiry into UK involvement in Israeli military operations – namely, RAF spy flights conducted over Gaza since October 2023.
Support on the outside
Throughout Khalid’s hunger strike, supporters have staged demonstrations in both London and his native Manchester. On the second day of his thirst strike, the Metropolitan Police arrested 86 protesters rallying in support outside HMP Wormwood Scrubs.
According to Danyal, those close to Khalid are proud of his actions but anxious about his health, as he suffers from Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy. They argue that his options to protest alleged mistreatment are limited.
“It’s actually far more difficult to hear consistent stories of the most violently racist repression from within the prison, to have calls blocked, visits blocked, for him to receive so little of the messages of love and support that get sent to him,” said Danyal.
Khalid’s current state
Khalid is now on the fourth day of his thirst strike. A recent update from his mother, Shabana, revealed that his phone has been confiscated, while Amy Frost, governor of HMP Wormwood Scrubs, has reportedly met with Khalid and verbally promised to improve his prison conditions, according to his supporters.
Above all, however, Danyal testified to his friend’s mental fortitude and conviction to push for his demands.
“His motivations for his demands are deeply rooted in the struggle of his comrades, the oppression of the Palestinians, and of any and all oppressed nations all over the world,” he said.
“It all only motivates him further to expose the corruption that is so dangerously failing this country’s definitions of democracy, and international law. All the government has to do is respond.”
Image source: Legitimate Targets via X.
