UN lists 214 firms linked to Israeli settlements

The United Nations updated its database of companies with activities in Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories on Friday, listing 214 firms from 11 countries.

The UN rights office said it had added 61 companies and removed five since last year's update. Airbnb, Booking.com, Motorola Solutions and TripAdvisor remained on the list.

UN rights chief Volker Turk said the report was a “reminder to companies that they have human rights responsibilities”. He said firms were expected to conduct due diligence to ensure they did not become involved in human rights violations or abuses.

Most companies on the list were based in Israel. Others were based in Canada, China, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Britain and the United States. Two Spanish companies were removed, along with one each from Canada, Israel and Portugal.

The list was first produced in 2020 after a UN Human Rights Council resolution called for a database of firms profiting from business in illegally occupied Palestinian territory. The UN rights office was asked to list companies found to be involved in any of 10 activities, including construction, surveillance, demolitions and destruction of agricultural land in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The database is not exhaustive. It reviews only companies about which the UN received submissions during set timeframes, the most recent of which closed in June 2024. The UN said it had received submissions about 596 companies and had so far reviewed 381.

Israel's mission to the UN in Geneva criticised the database as “a distorted mechanism” established to persecute Israel. It said the database was “a political tool” used by the rights office to advance a smear campaign against businesses that had committed no wrongdoing.

Israel has controlled the West Bank since 1967 in an occupation considered illegal under international law.