Category World News

London, United Kingdom – In the final days of their months-long hunger strike, three young pro-Palestine activists on remand – convicted of no crime – were confronted with their mortality in the confines of their prison cells.

Heba Muraisi, 31, who refused food for 73 days, was suffering with a level of pain so severe that sitting felt unbearable. At 49kg (108lb), her body wasting away, there were fears her organs were shutting down. Her memory declined and she had muscle spasms, a sign of possible neurological damage.

But until they announced the end of their hunger strikes on Wednesday amid their rapidly collapsing health, Muraisi and prisoners Kamran Ahmed, 28, and Lewie Chiaramello, 23, were determined to continue.

A Londoner who worked as a florist and lifeguard, Muraisi told Al Jazeera this week that she had resigned herself to the idea of death but wanted to keep refusing food in protest because she was “finally being heard”.

Ahmed, in a statement sent to Al Jazeera, has said ending the hunger strike after 65 days felt “bittersweet”.

Chiaramello had fasted every other day, as he is a Type 1 diabetic, for 46 days.

‘I was willing to go the distance’

In total, eight individuals have participated in the protest since early November. Currently, just one remand prisoner, Umer Khalid, continues to refuse food.

“I was willing to go the distance,” said Ahmed, who is also from London and had worked as a mechanic. “But others were not willing to see me walk a mile further.”

Described by loved ones as having become paper-thin, Ahmed has lost 25 percent of his body weight. His heart muscle has shrunk, he suffers from chest pains and has lost hearing in one ear. His speech was slurring, and walking took so much energy it made him breathless.

On Monday, when they last spoke by phone, his sister Shahmina Alam, a pharmacist, urged him to consider ending the strike.

“We just knew that it’s coming to a point where it’s really dangerous and actually, the probability of death was very high,” she told Al Jazeera.

Alam and physicians consulting the group are concerned that the hunger strikers may have already suffered irreversible health damage, as long-term symptoms related to starvation can take years to show. There are also fears around refeeding, which can be fatal if mismanaged.

Ahmed was hospitalised again this week, the seventh time since the protest began.

The collective held at various prisons includes Qesser Zuhrah; Amu Gib; Muraisi; Teuta Hoxha; Ahmed; Chiaramello; Jon Cink and Khalid, who has muscular dystrophy and has been on hunger strike for seven days.

All will have spent more than a year in prison before their trials are expected to take place later this year, far beyond the standard six-month pre-trial detention limit.

Some of the group, known as part of the “Filton 24”, are alleged to have participated in a break-in at the UK subsidiary of Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems, in Bristol. Others are accused of involvement in a break-in at a Royal Air Force (RAF) base in Oxfordshire. They deny the charges against them, such as burglary and criminal damage.

Palestine Action, the group they are allegedly linked to, claimed responsibility for both incidents.

Six of those charged in the Bristol action are currently on trial.

Were the hunger strikers’ demands met?

The collective had five key protest demands, including immediate bail, the guarantee of a fair trial and the de-proscription of Palestine Action.

They also called for all 16 of Elbit’s sites in the UK to be closed and demanded an end to what they call censorship in prison, accusing authorities of withholding mail, calls and books.

Throughout the protest, the government said the group would face a fair trial, that it had no power over the issue of bail, as this is a matter for the judiciary, and that prison welfare procedures were being followed. It has not commented on the end of the latest hunger strikes.

Elbit Systems, a target of Palestine Action’s campaign, describes its drones, which have been used extensively in Gaza to deadly effect, as “the backbone” of Israel’s drone fleet.

Palestine Action had been calling to “shut Elbit down” before it was outlawed as a “terrorist organisation” in July, putting it on par with ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda. The group, which said it backed direct action without violence and accused the UK of complicity in Israel’s atrocities, is fighting the ban in courts.

In the later stages of the hunger strike, the group added a further demand – that Muraisi be returned to Bronzefield prison near her home, having been moved to a jail in northern England.

That will now happen, said Prisoners for Palestine, an activist-led group that supports the collective’s families, hailing the transfer as a triumph.

Prisoners for Palestine has claimed several “victories” – primarily the UK government’s recent decision, reported by The Times newspaper, against awarding Elbit Systems UK a 2-billion-pound ($2.68bn) army training contract. However, the contract is instead reportedly going to Raytheon UK, the subsidiary of the US defence firm, which also has several deals with the Israeli military. Back in October 2023, Raytheon’s CEO said the company would “benefit” as the “war in Gaza or in Israel … will eventually lead to additional orders”.

“Obviously we will never know – and I don’t think they’ll ever admit – how much of an influence the hunger strike had on [the contract decision against Elbit],” Alam, Ahmed’s sister, said.

“There were some wins,” she added, such as raising awareness about Elbit’s role in Israel’s genocide and the overuse of pre-trial detention in the UK.

‘There has been some concessions by government’: MP

The group’s supporters have also claimed victory.

“There has been some concessions by government,” said John McDonnell, a Labour MP, as he paid tribute to the hunger strikers’ “dedication”.

Prisoners for Palestine said it considers as another success the offer of a meeting between Hoxha and the head of JEXU (Joint Extremism Unit) at her prison. Hoxha had claimed she was being monitored by the JEXU task force and that it had ordered prison officers to strip her of a library job in jail.

The group also saw as a win its meeting with prison healthcare leaders “at the behest of the Ministry of Justice”, and the “bulk” release of mail it alleged had been “withheld”.

“Books on topics of Gaza and feminism have also been given [to the prisoners] after months of waiting,” the group said.

The protest is said to have been the largest coordinated hunger strike in UK history since 1981, when Irish Republican inmates were led by Bobby Sands. Sands died on the 66th day of his protest, becoming a symbol of the Irish Republican cause. Nine others also died of starvation.

“Our prisoners’ hunger strike will be remembered as a landmark moment of pure defiance; an embarrassment for the British state,” said Prisoners for Palestine, which offers “direct action training” on its website.

“While these prisoners end their hunger strike, the resistance has just begun,” said the group, adding that 500 people have recently expressed interest in taking “direct action against the genocidal military-industrial complex”.

It added that in pursuit of a fair trial, the hunger strikers had demanded the disclosure of export licences for the last five years from Elbit Systems. “After repeated requests, this information was disclosed to an independent researcher by the Department of Trade during the hunger strike,” it said, hailing another “victory”.

Alam said she imagines Ahmed will have had a few cups of tea since the hunger strike ended. He requested soya milk, she said, as it is easier on the stomach.

The government does not “get to decide whether these guys live or don’t live”, she said.

“At the end of the day, it’s their decision, and that’s what they did.

Young athletes in northern Ukraine spend their days cross-country skiing through a scorched forest, focused on their form – until a siren inevitably shatters the silence.

They respond swiftly but without panic, ditching their skis and following coaches to an underground bomb shelter.

It’s an ordinary training session at the complex that produced Ukraine’s first Olympic medallist.

Sleeping children no longer dream of Olympic glory in the facility’s bombed-out dormitories, and unexploded ordnance has rendered nearby land off limits. But about 350 kids and teens – some of the nation’s best young cross-country skiers and biathletes – still practise in fenced-off areas amid the sporadic buzz of drones passing overhead, then explosions as they’re shot down.

“We have adapted so well — even the children — that sometimes we don’t even react,” Mykola Vorchak, a 67-year-old coach, said. “Although it goes against safety rules, the children have been hardened by the war. Adapting to this has changed them psychologically.”

War has taken a heavy toll on Ukrainian sport. Athletes were displaced or called up to fight. Football matches are often interrupted by air raid sirens, so attendance is capped by bomb shelter capacity. Elite skaters, skiers and biathletes usually train abroad, with attacks and frequent blackouts shuttering local facilities.

But the government-run Sports Ski Base of the Olympic Reserve is open for cross-country skiing and biathlon, the event which combines skiing with shooting. The sprawling complex is on the outskirts of Chernihiv, a city two hours north of Kyiv along the path of destruction that Russia’s army left in its 2022 attempt to capture the capital. Chernihiv remains a regular target for air attacks aimed at the power grid and civilian infrastructure.

Several temporary structures at the sports centre serve as changing rooms, toilets and coaches’ offices. Athletes train on snowy trails during the winter and, throughout the rest of the year, use roller skis on an asphalt track pocked by blast marks.

Biathletes aim laser rifles at electronic targets and, between shooting drills, sling skis over their shoulders and jog back to the start of the course, cheeks flushed from the cold.

Ukraine’s first Olympic medal

Valentyna Tserbe-Nesina spent her adolescence at the Chernihiv centre performing these same drills, and won bronze at the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer. It was Ukraine’s first Olympic medal as an independent country.

“The conditions weren’t great, but we had nothing better. And for us, it was like a family — our own little home,” she said inside her apartment, its shelves and walls lined with medals, trophies and souvenirs from competitions around the world.

Tserbe-Nesina, 56, was shocked when she visited the complex in 2022. Shelling had torn through buildings, fire had consumed others. Shattered glass littered the floors of rooms where she and friends once excitedly checked taped-up results sheets.

“I went inside, up to my old room on the second floor. It was gone — no windows, nothing,” she said. “I recorded a video and found the trophies we had left at the base. They were completely burned.”

Tserbe-Nesina has been volunteering to organise funerals for fallen Ukrainian soldiers in her hometown while her husband, a retired military officer, returned to the front. They see each other about once a year, whenever his unit allows him brief leave.

One adult who in 2022 completed a tour in a territorial defence unit of Ukraine’s army sometimes trains today alongside the centre’s youngsters. Khrystyna Dmytrenko, 26, will represent her country at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics that start on February 6.

“Sports can show that Ukraine is strong,” Dmytrenko said in an interview next to the shooting range. “We represent Ukraine on the international stage, letting other countries, athletes and nations see our unity, strength and determination.”

The International Olympic Committee imposed bans and restrictions on Russian athletes after the invasion of Ukraine, effectively extending earlier sanctions tied to state‑sponsored doping. But a small group of them will participate in the upcoming Winter Games.

After vetting to ensure no military affiliation, they must compete without displaying any national symbols — and only in non-team events. That means Russian and Ukrainian athletes could face one another in some skating and skiing events. Moscow’s appeal at the federation level to allow its biathletes to compete is pending.

That’s why many Ukrainians view training for these events as an act of defiance. Former Olympic biathlete Nina Lemesh, 52, noted that some young Ukrainians who first picked up rifles and skis at the Chernihiv ski base during wartime have become international champions in their age groups.

Sanaa, Yemen – Naef has been a government soldier in southern Yemen for nine years. When he joined the government army in 2016 – aged only 19 – he thought that the Yemeni government’s war against the Houthi rebel group would be brief.  A decade has elapsed, and the conflict remains unsettled, with the Houthis remaining in Sanaa.

Naef was clear as to the reason for the government’s failure – a lack of unity and clear command structure. For years, government soldiers and other anti-Houthi fighters have adhered to conflicting agendas across the country, with many of the fighters in the south supporting the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC). A solution to that division, Naef thought, was far-fetched.

However, more recently, things have changed. The STC’s decision to attempt to seize all of southern and eastern Yemen backfired, and Saudi Arabia backed pro-government troops in pushing the group back. The STC is now divided, with one leader on the run, and others declaring that the group had been dissolved.

The Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), Yemen’s UN-recognised authority led by President Rashad al-Alimi, has seized the initiative and, on January 10, established the Supreme Military Committee (SMC), with the goal of overseeing all anti-Houthi military units, and integrating them into the official Yemeni military, under one command.

Al-Alimi said that the SMC would ultimately be a vehicle to defeat the Houthis, and reclaim all of Yemen.

The SMC announcement marks a dramatic twist in the decade-long war, and Naef is now – finally – hopeful.

“I am optimistic today as the government has revived some of its power in southern Yemen,” he told Al Jazeera. “The formation of an inclusive military committee is a boost to our morale and a prelude to a powerful government comeback.”

The soldier believes that, after years of inertia, the tide has finally turned for the government. After nine years of experience on multiple frontlines, Naef now thinks that the government – with the backing of Saudi Arabia – is capable of pushing into Houthi-controlled northwestern Yemen, should negotiations fail.

“The PLC has achieved remarkable success in the south over the past few weeks with support from the Saudi leadership. It has once again proven to be an indispensable party to the conflict. Whether this success will be short-lived or lasting remains to be seen,” said Naef.

Concerns and defiance

The formation of the SMC has unleashed a sense of concern among Houthi supporters in northern Yemen.

Hamza Abdu, a 24-year-old Houthi supporter in Sanaa, describes the new military committee as an “attempt to organise the proxies in the south”.

“This committee may end the friction between the militant groups in the south, but it will deepen the south’s subjugation to Saudi Arabia,” Hamza said. The Houthis have often framed their opponents as being proxies controlled by foreign powers, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. They themselves are backed by Iran.

In light of the developments, Hamza shared a concern: the resumption of the war between the Houthis and their opponents, which has largely been frozen since 2022.

“If this military committee succeeded in uniting the forces in the south, that might entice them to attack the north,” he said. “A new destructive war will begin, and the humanitarian ordeal will magnify.”

Like many ordinary citizens, Hamza is now fearful that the war will restart. But Houthi leaders – while warning that their forces should stay alert – are still confident, saying that the formation of the SMC will not affect their power or weaken their control.

Aziz Rashid, a pro-Houthi military expert, believes that the SMC will not alter the status quo, arguing that any future confrontation with the Houthis “will only serve the agendas and plans of the United States-supported Zionist entity [Israel]”.

Rashid indicated that Houthi forces in Sanaa “confronted international and powerful military forces, including the United States, Britain and Israel, and stood firm against the [Saudi-led Arab] coalition during the past 10 years”.

The only solution for Yemen, Rashid said, was a political settlement.

The Iran-backed Houthis took over Sanaa in September 2014 and toppled the UN-recognised government in February 2015. They insist they are the only legitimate authority governing Yemen.

The Houthis have faced attacks from the US, the United Kingdom, and Israel since 2023, when the Yemeni group began attacking shipping in the Red Sea and Israel itself, in what the Houthis declared was solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

A terrifying message

Defeating the Houthis will be easier said than done, considering the Saudi-backed coalition’s failure to do so with overwhelming air power in the early years of the war, and the group’s now extensive combat experience and possession of advanced weapons, including drones and missiles.

But if the Yemeni military does truly reorganise itself and integrate the different anti-Houthi forces on the ground, the opportunity may be there.

Adel Dashela, a Yemeni researcher and non-resident fellow at MESA Global Academy, said that if the SMC is able to provide security and stability in territory under its control, it may also be able to improve the lives of Yemenis living there – and put itself in a stronger position in any negotiations with the Houthis.

“The next stage is the start of a political process to reach an agreement with the Houthi group. If the peaceful option fails, the military action becomes necessary,” Dashela told Al Jazeera.

Abdulsalam Mohammed, the head of the Yemeni Abaad Studies and Research Center, believes that recent events – both inside and outside Yemen – provide the government with a perfect opportunity to confront the Houthis.

“A limited military operation routed the UAE-backed STC within a few days,” Mohammed said. “What happened to the STC in the south carried a terrifying message to the Houthis in the north. The Houthis are not invincible.”

According to Mohammed, some factors have magnified the vulnerability of the Houthis at present.

He explained, “Iran is undergoing a massive crisis, and this can weaken Tehran’s Houthi proxy. The popular silent rage against the group keeps growing, given the economic and governance issues in areas under their control. Moreover, the exit of the UAE from the south will enable the Yemeni government to shift the battle to the Houthis in the north.”

Desperate for order

Armed groups in Yemen have proliferated over the last decade. The outcome has been a weakened government and a prolonged war. Amid the chaos, the population has borne the brunt.

Fawaz Ahmed, a 33-year-old resident of the southern city of Aden, is hopeful that the establishment of a military committee will end the presence of armed groups in Aden and other southern cities.

Fawaz expects Aden to get two immediate benefits from the formation of the SMC: an end to unlawful money collection by fighters and the disappearance of infighting between competing armed units.

He recalled an incident last August in Aden’s Khormaksar district, when two military units clashed at the headquarters of the Immigration and Passports Authority, leading to the closure of the facility for days.

“The commanders of the armed groups issued conflicting directions, and soldiers opened fire on each other. This clearly points to the absence of a united leadership. So, the declared military committee will prevent such face-offs,” said Fawaz.