The BBC and the Palestinian hunger strikers

This BBC article about the Palestinian hunger strikers raised two questions in my mind.

First, what is the definition of a hunger strike lasting 200 days? Even the BBC have to report that:

'Mr Issawi launched a hunger strike in August, but the the BBC understands that at points during the 200 odd days he has broken off his hunger strike for short periods only to resume it again.'

Hmm, in which case I have been on hunger  strike for almost a year now, only breaking it for three meals a day and never overnight.

Second, nowhere in the article does it say why the hunger strikers were originally in prison. The BBC do manage this:

'Two of the detainees, Ayman Sharawna and Samer Issawi, were released in October 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange deal that led to the freeing by Hamas of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.'

So Samer Issawi had been imprisoned before, but no mentipon of why. It is my understanding that Mr Issawi was convicted of firing gun at civilian vehicles, firing AK47 at civilian buses, manufacturing & distributing pipe bombs for attacking Israeli civilians. Now why would the BBC not want to report those facts?