A doctor has warned that imprisoned activists of Palestine Action who are currently on hunger strike are at risk of death.

The Palestine Action activists, Qesser Zuhrah, Amu Gib, Heba Muraisi, Teuta Hoxha, Kamran Ahmed and Lewie Chiaramello, have been accused of break-ins and criminal damage. They are currently in custody, awaiting trial in the UK. Two of them have refused food for 45 days.

As Al Jazeera reports, emergency physician James Smith said the hunger strikers are at a critical stage and are dying. Dr Smith also said he was “alarmed by accounts of substandard monitoring and treatment within the prison system” and called for their care to be managed by “regular specialist input if not continuous monitoring in hospital”.

Yesterday, over 800 healthcare professionals wrote to Justice Secretary David Lammy warning him that these activists “will die in prison having never even been convicted of an offence”.

When faced with questions about the hunger strikers – and his refusal to meet with them –in the House of Commons, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said “rules and procedures” are being followed.

Your Party co-founder Jeremy Corbyn has said the UK Government has a “responsibility for the welfare of prisoners”, and that responsibilty includes those on hunger strike.

This government has a responsibility for the welfare of prisoners. That includes those on hunger strike.

I am utterly dismayed by their unconscionable lack of urgency to prevent a catastrophe. pic.twitter.com/N3INfcGZ9c

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) December 18, 2025

“I am utterly dismayed by their unconscionable lack of urgency to prevent a catastrophe,” he said in a post shared on X.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has also called for Starmer to intervene.

“The health of those on hunger strike has deteriorated significantly in recent days and there is an immediate concern about Qesser Zuhrah who has been moved to hospital after 47 days on hunger strike. This is now a serious humanitarian crisis,” she said in a statement.

“Urgent action is needed and I have urged the British Prime Minister to engage directly to find an immediate resolution to this protest.”

As the BBC reports, the hunger strikers are calling for the ban on Palestine Action to be lifted, and for Elbit, a defence firm linked to Israel to be shut down. The pro-Palestine direct action group, whose mission is to end the global participation in Israel’s genocide, was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK Government in July 2025.