More than 150 companies, including four leading online accommodation platforms, are conducting business in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which have been declared illegal by the United Nations’ highest court. This was revealed in a report by the organization’s human rights office on Friday.
US firms Airbnb, Expedia, and TripAdvisor, along with Netherlands-based Booking.com BV, remain on the rights office’s list. This list was last updated in 2023 and now includes 68 new names, bringing the total to 158.
New additions to the list include major German cement maker Heidelberg Materials AG, which has disputed the listing, telling Reuters it is no longer active in occupied Palestinian territory. Seven companies that were previously listed have been removed.
All the companies listed were involved in one or more of the 10 activities that the rights office said raised particular human rights concerns. The accommodation platforms listed did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Israel, citing biblical and historical ties to the West Bank, disputes the 2024 UN court ruling, arguing that the Palestinian territory is not occupied in legal terms because the land is disputed. Most of the international community supports the UN view.
UN Rights Office calls for remediation
“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.
Most of the firms named in the database are domiciled in Israel, but it also includes international firms listed in Canada, China, France, and other countries.
Scrutiny of companies’ operations in the Israeli settlements has increased since Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and the simultaneous increase in raids in the West Bank that Israel says target militants but which have also harmed civilians.
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 conflict contexts to ensure their activities do not contribute to human rights abuses,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said. The report also stated that states should act to ensure businesses are not contributing to abuses.
Israel and the US 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 reconsider their activities.
Israeli settlements have grown in size and number since Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war. They extend deep into the territory with a system of roads and other infrastructure under Israeli control, further dividing the land.
A UN 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, claiming the Commission was pursuing a politically-driven agenda.
US President Donald Trump stated 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 eliminate hopes for a Palestinian state.
