UN blacklists 61 more firms operating in West Bank settlements

GENEVA, Switzerland — The United Nations human rights office on Friday issued a list adding 61 more companies operating in West Bank settlements, which the global body considers illegal.

The database is highly sensitive as firms could be targeted for boycotts or divestment to pressure Israel over settler expansion in the territory that is home to over 3 million Palestinians.

The database, first released in 2020, now includes 214 firms, mostly from Israel, but also from 10 other countries including France, Germany, China and the US.

Newly added firms included Israeli pesticide maker ADAMA, part of Chinese-owned Syngenta Group, Israel-based real estate investment holding company Alony Hetz and Spain’s Salvat Logistica.

They have not responded to a request for comment on their inclusion in the UN database.

They joined companies such as travel agency Expedia and home-rental company Airbnb already on the list.

Israel, which views the West Bank as disputed rather than occupied, has previously said the list unfairly vilifies companies working legally.

“This is a distorted mechanism — created by a deeply flawed body with an automatic majority against Israel,” Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva said on Friday, alleging that the database was established to “persecute” the Jewish state.

The UN rights office assessed companies active in a group of sectors including energy, food, hospitality, transport and agriculture, based on confidential submissions to the UN rights office.

Another 60 or so companies were assessed but not included since they did not meet the UN criteria of involvement in activities that violate the Palestinian right to self-determination.

Examples include supplying demolition equipment to destroy Palestinian buildings, provision of surveillance for settlements, and other services like transport that help maintain their existence, according to the UN website.

Other companies, such as British-registered online travel company Opodo and Spanish-domiciled online travel agent eDreams, have been dropped from the original list after submitting a reassessment request.

The UN found that there were reasonable grounds to believe they were no longer involved in the activities that previously justified their inclusion.

eDreams said last year it had withdrawn and would continue to block listings of accommodation in Israeli settlements, saying that some had appeared on its website automatically after owners uploaded them.

Travel firm Expedia has previously said that the listings in what it called “disputed areas” were clearly labeled, complied with international laws and sanctions, and underwent enhanced due diligence guided by UN standards.

Palestinians want the West Bank to be part of a future independent homeland.

But Netanyahu’s government has largely backed settlers, with building ramped up since terror group Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023, which sparked a years-long war in Gaza.

There has been a surge in settler attacks against Palestinians as government-backed outposts mushroom across the West Bank, prompting Britain, France and Canada to block imports from settlements this month.

However, a British official has said the scope of the UK’s latest sanctions on West Bank settlements could expand or narrow based on the actions of Israel’s next government.

Over 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank, which Palestinians claim, along with East Jerusalem and Gaza, as the basis of a future independent state.

Israel has said it has no intention of dismantling any of its West Bank settlements, and Netanyahu has ruled out an independent Palestinian state.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.