On Thursday 4th December, 22-year-old Muhammad Umer Khalid announced he will begin an open-ended hunger strike, joining the Prisoners for Palestine campaign. Umer is currently on remand at HMP Wormwood Scrubs, where he had been held without trial since 22nd August 2025.
This was allegedly in connection to the action at RAF Brize Norton on 20th June 2025, when a group of protesters broke into the air base and spray-painted two RAF Voyager planes. Police say the act caused an estimated £7m of damage.
Umer, who is from Greater Manchester, becomes the seventh prisoner to join the national Prisoners for Palestine open-ended hunger strike. He has specified he is doing so to support the first three demands laid out in the campaign, namely an end to prison censorship, immediate bail, and the right to a fair trial.
Like the other pro-Palestine prisoners, Umer has been targeted, often violently, by the prison authorities. His privacy has been violated, his access to books and visits restricted, he has been subjected to segregation on multiple occasions and has been refused permission to perform religious calls to prayers out loud.
Despite three individuals now being hospitalised, and an additional eighth prisoner who is diabetic, Lewie Chiaramello, joining in a partial hunger strike with serious health implications, the government has yet to respond to or engage in negotiations with Prisoners for Palestine. As some of the hunger strikers enter their fifth week, there has so far been no acknowledgement of three official letters sent separately to the government.
This week, Prisoners for Palestine met with John McDonnell MP alongside family members of the hunger strikers at the Houses of Parliament to discuss the severity of their cases, and to see what more could be done to encourage dialogue between the government and the campaign group. John McDonnell stated he was “really worried about their lives” in an interview about the hunger strikers with The Canary news outlet.
Doctor James Smith, one of the many medical professionals who signed an open letter to the Health and Justice commission to the NHS, states:
“Six prisoners have been on hunger strike for between 25 and 33 days. The health of all of the political prisoners has deteriorated rapidly in recent days, and 3 have been hospitalised in serious conditions. It is clear they are not receiving even the minimum standard of care required for people on hunger strike in prison. All six require immediate and comprehensive medical care, and political intervention to protect their human rights.”