According to a UN database, over 150 businesses have connections to Israeli settlements.
According to a report by the UN’s human rights office, over 150 companies, including Airbnb, Booking.com BV, Expedia, and TripAdvisor, are active in Israeli West Bank settlements that the UN has declared illegal.
Israel claimed the list, which was last updated in 2023, unfairly disparages businesses operating legally and now has 68 new names, bringing the total to 158.
Heidelberg Materials AG, a significant German cement manufacturer, is one of the new entrants. The company told Reuters that it was no longer operating in occupied Palestinian land and that it had contested the listing. The majority of the new businesses have their headquarters in Israel.
According to the report, seven previously listed companies were removed, including the Spanish-domiciled online travel agency eDreams ODIGEO S.A. and the British-registered online travel company Opodo, because there were good reasons to think they were no longer engaged in the activities that had previously supported their inclusion.
Every company on the list engaged in at least one of the ten practices that the rights office deemed to be particularly concerning for human rights.
“We connect travelers with independently operated accommodations, including some in disputed areas,” stated travel company Expedia. These listings are properly classified, adhere to international laws and sanctions, and go through a more thorough due diligence process that follows UN guidelines.
Requests for comment from Reuters were not immediately answered by the other housing platforms mentioned in the UN database.
Israel challenges the 2024 verdict by the UN’s highest court, which is supported by the majority of the international community, claiming that the territory is not legally occupied because the land is disputed, citing biblical and historical ties to the West Bank.
“This database is meant to serve as a blacklist against businesses that have committed no wrongdoing, as there is no general prohibition in international law against business activity in areas of conflict,” the Israeli embassy in Geneva stated in a statement.
The UN RIGHTS OFFICE DEMANDS REMEDIAL ACTION
“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,” said the study.
Although the majority of the companies included in the database are based in Israel, there are also foreign companies registered in Canada, China, and France in addition to those from the US, Germany, and other nations.
Since Israel’s military assault in Gaza and the corresponding rise in raids in the West Bank that Israel claims target fighters but that have also injured civilians, there has been a greater scrutiny of businesses’ operations in Israeli settlements.
The list, which mostly focuses on companies involved in real estate, mining, quarrying, and construction, is not all-inclusive because the Office still needs to review the more than 300 companies that were submitted for evaluation.
“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,” Volker Türk, the UN Human Rights Chief, stated. States should take action to make sure companies weren’t supporting abuses, the report added.
Israel and the United States have long objected to the Human Rights Council’s “disproportionate attention” to Israel.
According to civil society organizations, the database, which was required by the council in 2016, is a crucial instrument for guaranteeing openness regarding commercial operations in the West Bank and encouraging businesses to reconsider their practices.
Since Israel seized the West Bank during the 1967 war, the number and size of Israeli settlements have increased. They further divide the area by extending deep into Palestinian territory with an Israeli-controlled road and other infrastructure network.
On Tuesday, a UN Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israeli activities since October 2023 had shown a clear desire to annex the entire West Bank, increase Jewish settlements, and forcefully relocate Palestinians. Israel rejected the findings, claiming the Commission was working toward a political goal.
In response to appeals from some far-right Israeli lawmakers who seek to expand Israeli authority over the region and crush aspirations for a Palestinian state, US President Donald Trump declared on Thursday that he would not permit Israel to annex the West Bank.