Palestine has urged companies around the world to review their business with firms named in an updated United Nations database of companies involved in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The UN human rights office’s database now lists 214 companies, including 61 that were added in the latest update, Anadolu Agency reported. The companies come from 11 countries. Five companies that were on the earlier list have been removed after they stopped the activities that put them there.
“Review those relationships”
Ibrahim Khraishi, Palestine’s representative at the UN in Geneva, told the Human Rights Council that most of the firms on the list were Israeli companies with international links.
“It is abundantly clear at this juncture that many enterprises of the 214 among the list are Israeli companies,” he said. “Any enterprises cooperating with these Israeli enterprises need to review those relationships.”
Khraishi welcomed the companies that had pulled out of settlement-related activities and called for the database to be updated every year.
Spain: Israel “systematically violating” rights
Spain’s representative accused Israel of “systematically violating” the rights of civilians through its military campaigns, the actions of settlers and the destruction of homes. He called on Israel to comply with UN resolutions and withdraw from the occupied territories, and said the two-state solution remains “the only means for achieving a just, lasting peace”.
Israel was absent from the session and did not use its right of reply.
Why the list matters
Settlements built on occupied Palestinian land are illegal under international law. By naming the companies that supply, build, finance or service them, the database puts pressure on investors, banks and business partners to avoid profiting from the occupation. Each company removed from the list shows that such pressure can work.
Life under occupation
The update comes as violence against Palestinians in the West Bank rises. According to Palestinian figures, Israeli forces and settlers have killed 1,206 Palestinians in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem since October 2023, injured about 13,350 and detained more than 24,600. Settlers carried out 628 attacks in August alone, and on Tuesday they burned homes and cars in three villages near Nablus and Ramallah.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said this week that violence and settlement expansion were making life “intolerable” for Palestinians in the West Bank. “The frequent and severe violence must be brought to an end,” said Julien Lerisson, head of the ICRC delegation, adding that respecting the law of occupation meant “protecting civilians from violence and ceasing settlement expansion”.
Israel is also planning to reopen Route 463, a road through Ramallah and Al-Bireh, for settlers only. A Palestinian commission warned it would cut off eight villages and two neighbourhoods and force tens of thousands of Palestinians onto a congested detour.
Pakistan’s position
Pakistan does not recognise Israel and supports an independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. Read our report on the settler attacks on three West Bank villages.
This article draws on reporting by Anadolu Agency.
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