Today, Kamran Ahmed, Heba Muraisi and Lewie Chiaramello announce their decision to end their hunger strikes as Elbit Sytems UK was denied a crucial Government contract, a key demand of the hunger strikers.
Heba Muraisi, Kamran Ahmed, Lewie Chiaramello, Teuta Hoxha, Jon Cink, Qesser Zuhrah, and Amu Gib have now all begun re-feeding in accordance with health guidelines. It was announced today that Elbit Systems lost out on a £2 billion contract that would have seen them train 60,000 British troops each year. Since 2012, Elbit have won over 10 public contracts, marking a shift in their popularity amongst officials.
The £2 billion contract, which would have seen Elbit provide training to the British Army over ten years, was lost despite the best efforts of officials both in the Ministry of Defence and British army, who it was revealed had been colluding with both Elbit Systems UK and its parent company Elbit Systems in backroom meetings and ‘tours’ to the capital of Palestine, Jerusalem.
On Friday 9th January 2026, in a significant breakthrough, the national leaders of prison healthcare finally met with representatives of the hunger striking prisoners, at the behest of the Ministry of Justice, to discuss prison conditions and treatment recommendations. The decision comes as the group Prisoners for Palestine declared a number of victories of the hunger strike, outlining them in a statement:
“In addition to this key demand being met, we want to take this opportunity to reveal the various victories achieved across the duration of the hunger strike:
- In the past few weeks alone, 500 people have signed up to take direct action against the genocidal military-industrial complex, more than the amount of people who took action with Palestine Action over its 5 year campaign. During that 5 year campaign, 4 Israeli weapons factories were shut down. Elbit Systems is living on stolen time – we will see it shut down for good, not because of the government, but because of the people.
- Heba’s transfer to HMP Bronzefield has been accepted by HMP Newhall, where she is currently held in intentional isolation from her family and friends.
- T. Hoxha has been offered a meeting with the head of JEXU (Joint Extremism Unit) at her prison, the very same organisation that orchestrates the prisoners’ treatment as ‘terrorists’.
- Despite the cruel and constant medical neglect of the hunger strikers; including not logging food refusal, refusal of ambulances in life threatening emergencies, and degrading treatment in hospital; the national heads of prison healthcare have met with us at the behest of the Ministry of Justice.
- During the hunger strike, some of the prisoners started receiving bulk packages of witheld mail, and in one case received an apology from prison staff for a letter that was delayed by 6 months. Books on topics of Gaza and feminsim have also been given after months of waiting.
- In pursuit of a fair trial, the hunger strikers demanded disclosure of export licenses for the last 5 years from Elbit Systems. After repeated requests, this information was disclosed to an independent researcher by the Department of Trade during the hunger strike.”
The hunger strikers made British history, participating in the largest coordinated and longest hunger strike in Britain lasting in total 73 days, with Heba Muraisi ending at 73 days.
The campaign group Prisoners for Palestine emphasised that the most valuable win of the hunger strike has been the surge in commitment to direct action:
“Our prisoners hunger strike will be remembered as a landmark moment of pure defiance; an embarrassment for the British state. It exposed to the world Britain has political prisoners in service of a foreign genocidal regime, and has seen hundreds of people commit to take direct action in the prisoners footsteps.
While these prisoners end their hunger strike, the resistance has just begun. Banning a group and imprisoning our comrades has backfired on the British state, direct action is alive and the people will drive Elbit out of Britian for good”
Amu Gib said:
“We have never trusted the government with our lives, and we will not start now. We will be the ones to decide how we give our lives to justice and liberation.”
Lewie said:
“It is definitely a time for celebration. A time to rejoice and to embrace our joy as revolution and as liberation. We do this because of Palestine, because we’ve been inspired, because we’ve been empowered to take action and to try to realise our dreams for a free Palestine, for an emancipated world.”