By Olivia Le Poidevin
GENEVA (Reuters) -More than 150 companies are doing business in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that have been declared illegal by the United Nations’ highest court, a report by the organisation’s human rights office showed on Friday.
Israel, which cites biblical and historical ties to the West Bank, disputes the 2024 ruling by the U.N. court, arguing that the Palestinian territory is not occupied in legal terms because the land is disputed.
Most of the international community takes the U.N. view, and the human rights office said the 158 companies operating there – 68 of them added since the database was last updated in June 2023 – must ensure they were not contributing to rights abuses.
“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.
Seven companies previously listed were taken off.
Most of the firms named in the database are domiciled in Israel but it also includes international firms listed in countries such as the United States, Canada, China, France, and Germany.
Scrutiny of companies’ operations in the Israeli settlements has increased since Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and simultaneous increase in raids in the West Bank that Israel says target militants but which have harmed civilians as well.
The list, which focuses primarily on business activities related to construction, real estate, mining and quarrying is not exhaustive, as the Office is still to screen more than 300 businesses submitted for assessment.
“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,” U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said. The report also said that states should act to ensure businesses were not contributing to abuses.
Israel and the U.S. have long protested the “disproportionate attention” given to Israel by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council. The Israeli embassy in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest report.
Civil society groups say the database, mandated by the council in 2016, is an important tool to ensure transparency around business activities in the West Bank and to prompt companies to rethink their activities.
Israeli settlements have grown in size and number since Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war. They stretch deep into the territory with a system of roads and other infrastructure under Israeli control, further slicing up the land.
A U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Tuesday found that since October 2023, Israeli policies have demonstrated clear intent to forcibly transfer Palestinians, expand Jewish settlements, and annex the entire West Bank. Israel dismissed the report and said the Commission was pursuing a politically-driven agenda.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, rejecting calls from some far-right politicians in Israel who want to extend sovereignty over the area and snuff out hopes for a Palestinian state.
(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
