Palestine Action: Recovering hunger strikers ‘preemptively’ discharged from hospital
Families and medical staff have raised concerns about the clinical management of alleged Palestine Action-affiliated prisoners who have recently halted a 73-day hunger strike.
Kamran Ahmed, Heba Muraisi and Lewie Chiaramello were the last of seven hunger strikers to end their protest on Thursday.
Their decision followed the news that the UK government had cancelled a $2bn contract with Israeli arms company Elbit Systems.
Ahmed and Muraisi have been admitted to hospital to begin "refeeding", a process by which nutrients are administered to restore body weight.
If not managed effectively, there is a risk of “refeeding syndrome”, meaning severe fluid and electrolyte shifts that can have potentially life threatening consequences.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
"This is very fraught moment," Dr James Smith, an emergency doctor who has provided support to the hunger strikers and their families told Middle East Eye.
"One of the highest risk stages of a hunger strike is, counterintuitively to many people, the moment that you decide to stop, and that is because of all of the additional risks that then present themselves if it's not managed effectively," he said.
Families of the prisoners and doctors have raised concerns around the management of the process for the prisoners.
They say two of the prisoners who ended their strikes in December were discharged from prison “prematurely” despite developing “various unusual symptoms”, according to doctors who spoke to MEE.
'She would wake up handcuffed to a male guard, with no female guard in the room,'
- Ella Moulsdale, hunger striker Qesser Zuhrah's next of kin
Qesser Zuhrah, a prisoner held at HMP Bronzefield, who ended her strike on 17 December, said she was discharged after five days.
Zuhrah’s next of kin, Ella Moulsdale, told MEE that she had received a call from Zuhrah on 22 December, telling her that doctors had advised that she should stay at least a week in hospital, as she had developed a number of “worrying” symptoms during the refeeding process, including vision loss.
But at around 8pm that night, Moulsdale received a call from Zuhrah’s prison number.
“I was shocked. I thought, surely this can't be right?” Moulsdale told MEE.
“The prison made the final call of when she was discharged, which overrode the doctor's orders at the hospital,” she said.
Friends of Amu Gibb, also held at HMP Bronzefield, who ended their strike on 24 December, said that they had been discharged after just three days.
“The refeeding doesn’t seem to be managed in prison,” Jessie Dolliver, Gib’s next of kin told MEE.
“The prison is not monitoring their medical observations anymore. Amu is alone in trying to re-feed in a safe way,” Dolliver said, adding that Gib did not appear to have gained weight and are still struggling to walk.
When contacted for comment, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) pointed to the NHS for queries regarding medical treatment of the prisoners. NHS England did not comment by the time of publication.
An HMP Bronzefield spokesperson said: “We cannot provide information about specific individuals however, we can confirm that all prisoners have full access to healthcare, including attendance at external medical facilities if needed.
"Any prisoner refusing food would receive regular medical assessment and support from clinicians, as well as being offered mental health support.
"In addition, all prisoners are managed in line with the policies and procedures governing the entire UK prison estate, both within the prison and on escort outside of the prison."
‘A form of psychological torture’
When Zuhrah was discharged from hospital, she was transferred to the prison’s medical wing. Her cell was smeared with brown and red substances, which she assumed to be faeces and blood.
“It's a really distressing wing. You can't sleep in it because people are screaming and banging on the cell bars all night and all day. It's like a form of psychological torture,” Moulsdale said.
Zuhrah insisted on being transferred back to her cell.
She returned 24 hours later to find it turned “upside down,” according to Moulsdale.
Prison guards had rifled through her drawers and personal documents, confiscating almost all of her clothing.
When Zuhrah asked staff for her clothing to be returned, they informed her they had already “donated it to charity”.
Moulsdale also reported that, throughout her stay in hospital, she was handcuffed to a police officer, a practice that has been reported by multiple strikers during hospitalisation.
While Zuhra was sleeping her handcuffs were switched to a male guard without her consent.
“She would wake up handcuffed to a male guard, with no female guard in the room,” Moulsdale said.
“She's a young, female Muslim prisoner; it’s appalling they can’t seem to find a female guard.”
Moulsdale said that Zuhrah would have to undergo “invasive tests,” as well as go to the toilet and shower, all while handcuffed to a guard.
When contacted by MEE for comment, the MOJ pointed to the External Escorts Policy Framework which states that guards escorting prisoners “must be the same biological sex as the prisoner”.
It adds that: “Where this is not immediately possible, for example due to emergency situations or operational constraints, this must be documented on the risk assessment, and a staff member of same biological sex must be provided as soon as operationally possible.”
An indictment
Smith raised concerns about the shackling of hospitalised prisoners, saying that restraints should only be used in "exceptional circumstances".
Guidance published by the British Medical Association (BMA) states that the main risks arising from the treatment of prisoners in NHS hospitals are of escape or violence.
It cites Prison Service rules on the use of restraint in NHS facilities, which stipulate that a risk assessment carried out prior to admission “determines the degree of supervision," and that “where escape is unlikely, escort and bedwatch by one officer is sufficient, without restraint”.
The doctor added that, given the weakened physical states of the hunger strikers, they could not constitute a flight risk.
Smith further said that the use of restraints likely obstructed the hunger strikers’ treatment.
Greta Thunberg has been arrested in London at a protest in support of Palestine Action-linked prisoners on hunger strike.
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) December 23, 2025
The Swedish activist was arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 for holding a placard that read "I support Palestine Action prisoners, I oppose genocide". pic.twitter.com/XS2zz59SCU
“The prison medical service reported that they were finding it increasingly difficult to take blood from Kamran, but it wasn't helped by the fact that he was cuffed,” Smith said
Medical staff ended up getting a specialist to insert a cannula between Ahmed’s knuckles, which eventually failed.
Rather than re-cannulating him, the accident and emergency team discharged him back to prison, saying that there was nothing more they could do for him.
'I very firmly believe that the state and its appendages, the prison system, the private companies as well, are trying to make an example out of these individuals'
- Dr James Smith
BMA guidance states that health professionals should ask for the removal of a restraint if “the method of restraint interferes with treatment or if the detained person is clearly too incapacitated either to threaten others or abscond”.
It noted that the right of medical staff to request removal of restraints “is not widely known”.
Smith said that, in his experience, the only time restraints are used during treatment “is if someone poses an immediate flight risk, or if they are at extreme risk to themselves or to others”.
“But even then, we regularly ask for cuffs to be removed from people who have been convicted of something.
"This is an individual who's not actually been convicted of anything. I find that this is just staggering.”
According to Smith, the use of cuffs on the prisoners during hospitalisation is likely a punitive measure.
“I very firmly believe that the state and its appendages, the prison system, the private companies as well, are trying to make an example out of these individuals, and they're treating them horrifically badly on that basis," he said.
‘Extreme risk’
Smith emphasised that Ahmed and Muraisi, who refused food for over 70 days, are at “extreme risk” of refeeding syndrome.
According to NHS clinical guidelines for managing prisoner food refusal, those at highest risk of life-threatening complications arising from refeeding will have more than one “major risk factors”.
These include a loss of over 15 percent of body weight, little or no nutritional intake for over ten days, and low potassium, magnesium or phosphate levels before the onset of refeeding.
Smith said the pair should undergo at least a week of “daily clinical oversight from a specialist internal medicine team,” given the complexities of their conditions.
“I would certainly be advocating very strongly at this stage for not only refeeding support, but for a full range of specialist reviews from a neurologist, from a hearing specialist, from a cardiologist, to determine whether there has been any immediate impact on their general wellbeing,” Smith told MEE.
However, Smith said that there is no minimum timeframe stipulated for the refeeding process, something which he says hospitals have “lent on with the other hunger strikers when they have discharged, in my view, prematurely”.
Smith expressed particular concern about Ahmed, whose family reported medical investigations that found early signs of heart shrinkage.
Ahmed also reported that he was suffering from hearing problems, which Smith suggested could indicate nerve damage.
Despite presenting with these symptoms, Ahmed was transferred promptly back to prison after staff told him there was nothing that could be done for him.
'This isn't the end'
Ahmed’s sister, Shahmina Alam, told MEE that her feelings about her brother’s decision to halt his strike are “bittersweet”.
Despite the relief of knowing he is not going to continue deteriorating, she and her elderly parents are racked with worry about his refeeding process.
As was the case with his previous hospitalisations, they have had no contact from him since he was admitted. Alam last spoke to him prior to his hospitalisation on 5 January.
She said she “believed the prison had blocked him from making calls”.
“I hope he’s doing ok, and I hope he knows that everyone outside really cares about him, and we will continue to escalate and mobilise.
“This isn't the end,” Alam said.
On Monday, Prisoners 4 Palestine, a group that supports the families and loved ones of hunger strikers, said the last remaining hunger striker will begin a “thirst strike” in five days if the government continues to refuse a meeting.
Umer Khalid, 22, who suffers from a rare genetic disorder, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, is on the ninth day of his hunger strike, following a short pause on 10 January 2026.
Khalid, who is from Manchester and has been charged in connection with an action at the RAF Brize Norton site, previously went on hunger strike for 12 days before becoming severely unwell and unable to walk.
He began his first hunger strike after prison authorities denied him access to a Quran and barred him from showering or using a prayer mat to perform his prayers.
The prison later granted these rights following public outrage, but Khalid decided to resume his hunger strike after prison officers allegedly “physically assaulted him” and strip-searched him for giving the call to prayer.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
