As of January 12, 2026, Heba Muraisi, an activist with Palestine Action, has surpassed the 66-day hunger strike duration of Irish republican Bobby Sands, who died on his 66th day in 1981.

She reached her 71st day of hunger strike on January 12, having passed Sands' 66-day mark on January 7. Supporters describe her as "dying in her cell" at HMP New Hall, suffering from severe muscle spasms and breathing difficulties.

The current protest is described by campaigners as the largest coordinated hunger strike in the UK since the 1981 Maze Prison protest.

Bobby Sands (1981): Died after 66 days.

Kieran Doherty (1981): Survived the longest among the 1981 strikers, dying after 73 days.

Terence MacSwiney (1920): Died in Brixton Prison after a 74-day hunger strike.

1920 Cork Strikers: Nine men survived for 94 days without food.