Three Palestine Action hunger strikers 'well into critical phase'

Palestine Action-affiliated prisoners taking part in a hunger strike have shown an alarming deterioration in their health as one of them has entered the third month of refusing food, supporters said yesterday.

- Haroon Siddique

Heba Muraisi, 31, on day 65 of her hunger strike, is said to be suffering from muscle spasms and breathing problems, while Kamran Ahmed, on day 58, has reported intermittent hearing loss.

The third remaining prisoner taking part in the protest is Lewie Chiaramello, 22, who has type 1 diabetes and has been fasting every other day for 44 days.

Dr James Smith, an emergency physician and lecturer at University College London, said the three were already "well into the critical phase", which he described as being beyond three weeks, adding that "things can decline very quickly and irreversibly".

Interviewed by the Guardian through an intermediary, Ahmed, 28, who is being held at HMP Pentonville in north London and who was hospitalised for a fifth time last week, said: "I'm worried, but being scared does not mean for one second I am not willing, as the government ministers play ping pong with our health.

"I intend to continue my hunger strike; perhaps they wait for me to leave in a body bag or [be] hospitalised for a sixth time. The way my chest hurts when I speak and [my heart] races, it doesn't feel too far in the near future.