THE family of jailed British-Egyptian human rights activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah has announced that he has broken his hunger strike. 

The activist, who was sentenced to five years in jail last December for taking part in pro-democracy activities, reportedly sent a note to his mother from inside prison telling her: “I’ve broken my strike.”

Mr Fattah, who had been on partial hunger strike for 200 days, stopped drinking water over a week ago. He escalated his protest to coincide with the first day of Cop27 in a bid to draw world attention to his plight.  

The note which is dated Monday, November 14, reads: “How are you, Mama? Don’t worry, I’m OK. Your short letter got through, and I feel better now knowing you’re OK.”

He adds that he wants to celebrate his birthday with her when she visits this coming Thursday, and to bring cake. “I’ve broken my strike,” the note reads. “I’ll explain everything on Thursday.”

The family say they don’t know what has informed his decision, but are cautiously relieved knowing he’s no longer on hunger strike. 

It comes after his relatives raised fears he could die within days of ramping up his protest.