UN body publishes list of 214 companies involved in Israeli occupation settlements
Geneva, 25 Sep (KUNA) -- The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a new update on Friday to its database of companies involved in activities related to Israeli occupation settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, listing 214 companies from 11 countries.
This was detailed in a new report by the OHCHR office in Geneva, which stated that the update included, for the first time, information on the nature of each company’s involvement in adverse human rights impacts, based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
The OHCHR identified three levels of involvement in settlement activities: the highest being companies “causing” these violations, followed by those “contributing” to the violations in conjunction with other parties, and the lowest being those with a “direct link” to the violations.
The OHCHR noted that its assessment focused this time on the impact of corporate activities on the right to “self-determination” of the Palestinian people, rather than other rights. It clarified that out of the 214 listed companies, the assessment concluded that 200 were “contributing” companies with regard to adverse impacts on this right, while 14 companies had a “direct link” to these impacts. No companies were found to fall under the “causing” level.
The OHCHR explained that the database was established by mandate of the UN Human Rights Council in 2020 and was updated in 2023 and 2025. It added that this update primarily focused on companies operating in the agriculture, transport and storage, waste management, energy, food, and hospitality services sectors.
It reported receiving data on 596 companies, noting that it reviewed 215 of them last year, while in the current update it reviewed 126 companies out of the remaining 381.
Through this update, the OHCHR confirmed the inclusion of 61 companies on the list and the removal of five previously listed companies, after concluding that they were no longer engaged in settlement activities.
The report quoted UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk as saying that “the report serves as another reminder to companies of their responsibilities towards human rights,” emphasizing the need to conduct due diligence to ensure they are not involved in human rights violations or abuses.
In this context, the OHCHR called on companies to fulfill their responsibility to respect human rights in accordance with internationally recognized standards and to take appropriate measures to address adverse human rights impacts associated with their activities.
It urged states to take appropriate measures to ensure that victims have access to effective remedies through judicial, administrative, legislative, or other appropriate means regarding business-related human rights violations within their territories or under their jurisdiction, in accordance with international law.
(End) AMK / AMS
