Dozens of companies blacklisted over ties to Israeli settlements
The UN has added 69 companies to a blacklist of entities accused of being complicit in violating Palestinian human rights through their business ties to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The list includes an array of firms such as vendors of construction materials and earth-movers, as well as providers of security, travel and financial services.
With today’s addition, the database now contains 158 companies – the vast majority Israeli. The others are from the United States, Canada, China, Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Newcomers to the list include German building-materials company Heidelberg Materials, Portuguese rail systems provider Steconfer, and Spanish transportation engineering firm Ineco. Among those still on the list are travel-sector companies US-based Expedia Group, Booking Holdings Inc and Airbnb.
The UN’s main human rights body passed a resolution nearly a decade ago to create the list, and Israel has sharply criticised it since.
Airbnb, Booking.com among 150 businesses in UN database with ties to illegal West Bank settlements
A report (PDF) issued by the UN’s human rights office listed more than 150 businesses with ties to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, 68 more than when it was last published in 2023.
The firms include travel businesses Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, and TripAdvisor, as well as the US tech company Motorola Solutions.
“Where business enterprises identify that they have caused or contributed to adverse human rights impacts, they should provide for or cooperate in remediation through appropriate processes,” the report said.
“This report underscores the due diligence responsibility of businesses working in contexts of conflict to ensure their activities do not contribute to human rights abuses,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said.
One new addition to the database, German cement maker Heidelberg Materials, disputed the listing, telling Reuters it was no longer active in the West Bank.
Other firms were removed from the list, having been present in the 2023 version, including the travel companies eDreams and Opodo.
The occupation of the Palestinian West Bank is illegal under international law, and the International Court of Justice said in July 2024 that Israel should remove settlers from the West Bank, as well as occupied East Jerusalem, and pay reparations to Palestinians.
