Palestinian prisoners say the move comes after a subsidiary of an Israeli arms manufacturer failed to win a contract with the British government.
Published January 14, 2026
Three British activists who were denied food and detained for weeks have ended a hunger strike, citing reports that a British-based subsidiary of a major Israeli arms company had been denied a contract with the British government.
The Palestinian prisoners’ organization said in a statement on Wednesday that hunger strikers Kamran Ahmad, Heba Muraishi and Rewi Chiaramero had ended their strike after one of their “important” demands had been met.
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“The prisoners’ hunger strike will be remembered as a landmark moment of pure defiance and a shame for the British nation,” the group said.
Several members of the banned group Palestine Action had refused food in British prisons since November to protest their detention and the British government’s support for Israel, which is waging a genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza.
Relatives and friends of the activists had warned that the prolonged hunger strike was putting them at risk of serious health problems and even death.
The Times reported on Tuesday that Elbit Systems UK, a subsidiary of the Israeli weapons manufacturer of the same name, had failed to win a $2.69 billion contract to help train British soldiers.
The news agency, citing unnamed “insiders” at the British Ministry of Defence, reported that the ministry had instead chosen to award the contract to a rival consortium led by Raytheon UK.
“The sudden cancellation of this agreement is a major victory for the hunger strikers who used their imprisoned bodies to resist the role of Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, in the colonization and occupation of Palestine,” the Palestinian prisoners said.
Palestinian rights activists have long called on countries to divest from Elbit Systems over its role in supplying the Israeli military with weapons used in alleged war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.
That includes the war-torn Gaza Strip, where Israeli military attacks have killed more than 71,000 Palestinians since October 2023.
A Palestine Action hunger striker was jailed for his alleged role in a break-in at Elbit Systems’ UK subsidiary in Filton, near Bristol, in 2024.
In June last year, the British government banned Palestinian Action under the Terrorism Act 2000, making it illegal to join or express support for the group and punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Since then, scores of people have been detained at protests across the UK for expressing support for the group in what critics say is a severe crackdown on freedom of speech and assembly.
A total of seven activists have started eating again after ending their hunger strike, the Palestinian prisoners’ organization announced on Wednesday.
British MP John McDonnell praised the hunger strikers’ “dedication” in a social media post.
“I want to say to the Palestinian people, thank you for everything you have done,” Mr McDonnell said, adding that Israel’s campaign to “secure peace and justice for the Palestinian people” and “end the British arms industry’s complicity in war crimes” will continue.
