An investigative report by the British newspaper The Guardian has revealed that Israeli occupation forces are using electric stun weapons manufactured by U.S. company Axon to torture Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
اضافة اعلان
The investigation, conducted by The Guardian in cooperation with the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), found that the American company continues to supply Israel with Taser electric stun weapons despite evidence that they have been used to torture Palestinian prisoners.
“The Hell Wing”
The investigation included the testimony of a Palestinian prisoner identified by the pseudonym “Issa,” who described his ordeal in the so-called “Hell Wing” of an Israeli prison, a name reflecting its notorious reputation for brutality.
Issa said prison guards took him to the “Hell Wing” and violently pushed him into a corner. One of them then fired two rubber bullets at him, causing him to fall to the ground. He said another guard tightly restrained him despite the fact that both of his feet had been amputated after an Israeli shell struck his home in Jabalia refugee camp.
He said he was then subjected to electric shocks from a stun weapon that he later learned was a Taser manufactured by the U.S. company Axon.
More than a year and a half later, the investigation said, the marks left by the electric shocks remain visible on the Palestinian prisoner’s body. According to the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, the close positioning of paired scars indicates that he was subjected to repeated shocks while being tightly restrained.
The investigation said Issa, 43, was arrested in Jabalia refugee camp in January 2024, where he had been living after losing both feet in an Israeli missile attack on his home. He was held at Israel’s Ofer Prison before being released in October 2025.
The British newspaper said the incident was one of several cases linked to the use of weapons manufactured by Axon, which appears to continue supplying them to Israel.
It cited three other prisoners who were later released as saying they had been tortured with weapons manufactured by Axon between 2024 and 2025.
Human rights organizations have repeatedly accused Israeli detention centers and prisons of torturing and mistreating prisoners using electric shock devices. Amnesty International has called for restrictions on the export of such equipment.
An Israeli military spokesperson told the newspaper that mistreatment of prisoners is strictly prohibited and that restraints are used only “in exceptional circumstances that justify their use, and in accordance with Israeli and international law and Israeli military orders.”
Sexual Assault
Separately, the newspaper reported that an investigation by Israeli military prosecutor Itay Ofir into five Israeli soldiers accused of sexually assaulting a Palestinian prisoner at the Sde Teiman detention camp in July 2024 found that the soldiers used a Taser electric stun weapon while torturing the prisoner, requiring him to be transferred to a hospital for treatment.
In November 2025, the UN Committee Against Torture issued a report on torture—including the use of electric shocks—inside Israeli detention facilities, stating that “cases of torture and ill-treatment have sharply increased since October 7, 2023.”
The committee also expressed “grave concern” over widespread allegations that Palestinian prisoners had been subjected to sexual assault, including allegations of rape, sexually motivated forms of torture, and electric shocks to the genitals and anus.
Continued Supply Despite Torture Allegations
The Guardian reported that despite these concerns, Axon continued to enter into contracts with Israeli entities to supply Taser electric stun devices or their accessories.
The investigation documented the U.S. company showcasing its latest electric-shock weapon models to Israeli security agencies at a conference held in Israel in June 2025.
The investigation also quoted another former prisoner as saying that water was poured over his body—an act that can intensify the effects of electric torture—before he was shocked with a Taser during his detention in 2024.
He said he continues to suffer from severe vision impairment, convulsions and recurring fainting spells.
In August 2025, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs reported that detainees at Gilboa Prison had been subjected to electric-shock torture. They were allegedly dragged to shower areas in the prison yard, soaked with water and then subjected to further electric shocks. The commission did not identify the type of weapon used.
Amani Al-Sarhanah of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club was quoted as saying that electric shocks may be only one of dozens of types of weapons used against Palestinian prisoners, adding that the exact weapons and companies supplying them remain unknown. She said, however, that most weapons imported by Israel come, directly or indirectly, from the United States.
Lack of Accountability
The investigation cited a report by a group of Israeli non-governmental organizations stating that 92 Palestinian prisoners have died while in detention since October 2023, while only one Israeli soldier has been prosecuted for mistreating Palestinian prisoners from the Gaza Strip.
Amnesty International said it has published extensive reports on the human rights risks associated with the use of electric-shock weapons. It has also previously called for such devices, which are used by law enforcement agencies, to be included under the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, which regulates the international trade in conventional weapons.
Source: The Guardian / ARIJ
