Palestine hunger striker Heba Muraisi faces severe neurological symptoms on day 64 of her hunger strike as her mother shares a heart-breaking letter, marking the longest UK protest of its kind since 1981
Heba Muraisi has now gone 64 days without food and is experiencing symptoms of neurological damage(Image: Prisoners for Palestine)
The mother of a Palestine hunger striker has released a heart-breaking letter as her daughter reaches critical point in the protest.Locked up on remand miles away from her family and friends, Heba Muraisi has now gone 64 days without food, making her the longest-serving hunger striker in the campaign, after beginning her protest on 3 November 2025.

The hunger strike has now reached a critical stage. As her health rapidly declines, she is now experiencing uncontrollable muscle spasms that could indicate neurological damage, alongside breathing difficulties, as she continues an open-ended hunger strike.

Although she has been unable to visit Heba, in a letter addressed to her, her mother, Dunya, wrote: “We are here behind you, supporting you and loving you without limits. No matter how long the night of waiting lasts, the sun of freedom will surely rise”.

Speaking with Prisoners for Palestine, Muraisi said she was “experiencing muscle spasms and twitches in her arm” and was also “feeling like she is holding her breath and doesn’t know why, like she has to remind herself to breathe”. This comes after it was reported on January 2 that Heba had “lost the ability to speak” on day 61.She has stated she will not end her hunger strike until prison authorities agree to move her back to HMP Bronzefield. Muraisi was transferred late last year from HMP Bronzefield to HMP New Hall, a move that placed her hundreds of miles away from her family and support network.

Heba stands accused alongside other campaigners of involvement in a break-in at Israeli-linked defence technology firm, Elbit Systems, last November. A trial has been tentatively scheduled for May next year.

Muraisi has been held on remand for more than a year in relation to Palestine-based activism, exceeding standard UK custody limits. She is also demanding immediate bail as part of the conditions to end her hunger strike. None of her demands have yet been met, and she has now entered her third month without food.’We must not replicate Thatcher’s cruelty by letting Palestine hunger strikers die’
Prisons
Demonstrations seen protesters gather outside HMP New Hall in Wakefield where Heba Muraisi is being held on remand after being arrested in November 2024 for alleged offences relating to Palestine Action. The demonstrators held “Support the Hunger Strikers” banners in support of Heba.

The strike is the longest the UK has seen since the 1981 IRA hunger strikes, where Bobby Sands after 66 days without political intervention. A total of 10 men died in the 1981 hunger strikes.