THREE detained activists affiliated with Palestine Action have ended a prolonged hunger strike after the government blocked a major British Army contract for Elbit Systems UK.
After 73 days without food, Heba Muraisi, Kamran Ahmed and Lewie Chiaramello resumed eating on Wednesday as confirmation emerged that Elbit Systems UK had been denied a £2 billion, ten-year military training contract.
The hunger strike began on 2 November 2025, the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, and supporters had warned the prisoners were at imminent risk of death after weeks of medical deterioration.
The strikers said the loss of the contract met a central demand of their protest.
The deal would have embedded Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, in British military training for a decade.
Campaigners said its cancellation came despite sustained efforts by Ministry of Defence officials and the British Army, whom they accused of colluding with Elbit through closed-door meetings and organised visits to Jerusalem.
‘The abrupt cancellation of this deal is a resounding victory for the hunger strikers, who resisted with their incarcerated bodies to shed light on the role of Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, in the colonisation and occupation of Palestine,’ the Prisoners for Palestine group said.
Elbit Systems UK failed to secure the $2.69bn contract, which was instead awarded to a rival consortium led by Raytheon UK.
Since 2012, Elbit Systems has secured 25 UK public contracts worth more than £333m.
Campaigners said the loss marked a significant shift and renewed calls to end Elbit’s presence in Britain.
‘Elbit Systems is living on stolen time,’ one statement said. ‘We will see it shut down for good, not because of the government, but because of the people.’
Muraisi, Ahmed and Chiaramello were jailed over their alleged involvement in break-ins at Elbit’s Filton facility near Bristol in 2024 as part of a wider campaign of direct action against Israeli arms manufacturers operating in Britain.
Activists said the hunger strike also forced concessions.
Muraisi was approved for transfer to HMP Bronzefield after being held at HMP New Hall in what supporters described as intentional isolation.
Another prisoner, Teuta Hoxha, was offered a meeting with the head of the Joint Extremism Unit, which oversees the designation and treatment of so-called ‘terrorist’ prisoners.
Campaigners also said bulk deliveries of previously withheld mail were released, with one prison apologising for a letter delayed by six months.
‘Our prisoners’ hunger strike will be remembered as a landmark moment of pure defiance; an embarrassment for the British state,’ Prisoners for Palestine said.
‘The continued imprisonment of the hunger strikers will remain a stain on Britain’s facade of being a democratic country, with any spine of law and order.’
As the three prisoners recover, supporters said the protest had emboldened others previously fearful of repression.
‘The government should know they cannot ban a concept,’ one statement said. ‘Cowardly banning one group cannot stop a belief, a movement, a people.
This is only the start of our collective fight to free us all, and the road to freedom runs through Palestine.’
