UN adds 68 companies to blacklist for complicity in rights violations in Israeli settlements

Geneva: The United Nations has added nearly 70 more companies to a blacklist of companies from 11 countries that it says are complicit in violating Palestinian human rights through their business ties to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The new list spotlights companies that do business that’s deemed supportive of the settlements, which are considered by many to be illegal under international law. It includes an array of companies like vendors of construction materials and earth-movers, as well as providers of security, travel and financial services.

The list, formally known as a “database of companies,” 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, Inc.

While 68 new companies were added on Friday, seven were taken off. A total of 215 business enterprises were assessed in this round, but hundreds more could get a look in the future. 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. The revision could further isolate Israel at a time when some of its European allies have recognised an independent Palestinian state over Israel’s conduct of its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Months in the making, the revised list comes as Israel has made veiled threats to annexe parts or all of the West Bank and has approved plans to build thousands of new settlement homes there.

The government approved a controversial settlement project last month that would effectively split the West Bank in two, a step that would all but bury hopes for establishing a Palestinian state in the territory. Gaza is not covered by the list, because Israel no longer has settlements there.

The international community says dividing the territory as part of a two-state solution would leave Israel as a country with a solid Jewish majority and allow the Palestinians to realise their dreams of self-determination.

The alternative, many say, is an apartheid-like country divided roughly evenly between Israelis and Palestinians in which Jews would rule over the Palestinians.

This is the first revision to the list since 2023, when 97 companies were listed — down from 112 in the original list published in 2020. Among those 15 taken off last time were US-based food and cereal giant General Mills.

The blacklist was born of a vote by the UN’s Human Rights Council, which has no legal authority or ability to force companies to act: Its main goal is to name and shame businesses with ties to the settlements.