FiMED – Follow-up

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has added 61 new companies to the database of businesses the Office has identified as involved in activities linked to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, bringing the total number of listed companies to 214 from 11 countries.

The update comes under a database established by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor companies involved in specific activities linked to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The Office first issued the database in 2020, based on a Human Rights Council resolution.

214 companies from 11 countries

The update covers companies headquartered in various countries, including Israel, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, China, Mexico and South Africa.

The activities covered by the database span a wide range of sectors. The database targets specific business activities linked to settlements and is not a general register of all companies operating in Israel or dealing with the Israeli market.

Hundreds of companies reviewed

According to the Office's methodology, the current list does not represent all companies that may have links to settlement-related activities. The Office said it had received information on 596 companies, hundreds of which have undergone assessment and review, while screening of other companies is continuing.

In the latest update, 126 companies that were still under assessment after the previous review were examined; the process resulted in 61 companies being added, while five were removed from the list.

According to the assessment contained in the update:

200 companies were deemed to be contributing to adverse impacts on the Palestinian people's right to self-determination.

14 companies were classified as directly linked to these impacts.

A previous UN report had noted that the database has a specific scope and is not intended to cover all settlement-related business activities that may raise human rights concerns.

Multiple sectors

According to the Office, the activities on which the companies' listing was based relate to several sectors, including construction and settlement expansion, surveillance and identification, banking and financial services, telecommunications, transport, energy, agriculture, food, waste management and hospitality.

The update included new companies such as Spain's Salvat Logistica and Israel's Alony Hetz, while previously listed companies, including Airbnb, Booking.com, Tripadvisor and Motorola Solutions, remained in the database.

The UN position on settlements

The UN considers Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory to be in violation of international law, while the database indicates that some business activities can contribute to, or benefit from, the continuation or expansion of settlement activities.

The database of companies linked to settlement activities was established within the work of the UN Human Rights Council, after the Council asked the Office to identify companies involved in the activities set out in the UN report on the impact of Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people. The Office first issued the database in February 2020 and has since updated it.