A/HRC/59/23

Advance unedited version Distr.: General

16 June 2025

Original: English

Human Rights Council

Fifty-ninth session
16 June–11 July 2025
Agenda item 7
Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories

From economy of occupation to economy of genocide

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation

of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967*, **

Summary
This report investigates the corporate machinery sustaining Israel’s settler-colonial
project of displacement and replacement of the Palestinians in the occupied territory. While
political leaders and governments shirk their obligations, far too many corporate entities have
profited from Israel’s economy of illegal occupation, apartheid and now, genocide. The
complicity exposed by this report is just the tip of the iceberg; ending it will not happen
without holding the private sector accountable, including its executives. International law
recognizes varying degrees of responsibility – each requiring scrutiny and accountability,
particularly in this case, where a people’s self-determination and very existence are at stake.
This is a necessary step to end the genocide and dismantle the global system that has allowed
it.

* The present report was submitted to the conference services for processing after the deadline so as to
include the most recent information.
** The annex to the present document is reproduced as received, in the language of submission only.
A/HRC/59/23

I. Introduction
1. Colonial endeavours and their associated genocides have historically been driven and
enabled by the corporate sector.1 Commercial interests have contributed to the dispossession
of Indigenous people and lands2 – a mode of domination known as “colonial racial
capitalism”.3 The same is true of Israeli colonization of Palestinian lands,4 its expansion into
the occupied Palestinian territory and its institutionalization of a regime of settler-colonial
apartheid.5 After denying Palestinian self-determination for decades, Israel is now imperilling
the very existence of the Palestinian people in Palestine.
2. The role of corporate entities in sustaining Israel’s illegal occupation and ongoing
genocidal campaign in Gaza is the subject of this investigation, which focuses on how
corporate interests underpin Israeli settler-colonial the twofold logic of displacement and
replacement aimed at dispossessing and erasing Palestinians from their lands. It discusses
corporate entities in various sectors: arms manufacturers, tech firms, building and
construction companies, extractive and service industries, banks, pension funds, insurers,
universities and charities. These entities enable the denial of self-determination and other
structural violations in the occupied Palestinian territory, including occupation, annexation
and crimes of apartheid and genocide, as well as a long list of ancillary crimes and human
rights violations, from discrimination, wanton destruction, forced displacement and pillage,
to extrajudicial killing and starvation.
3. Had proper human rights due diligence been undertaken, corporate entities would
have long ago disengaged from Israeli occupation. Instead, post-October 2023, corporate
actors have contributed to the acceleration of the displacement-replacement process
throughout the military campaign that has pulverized Gaza and displaced the largest number
of Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967.6
4. While it is impossible to fully capture the scale and extent of decades of corporate
connivance in the exploitation of the occupied Palestinian territory, this report exposes the
integration of the economies of settler-colonial occupation and genocide. It calls for
accountability for corporate entities and their executives at both domestic and international
levels: commercial endeavours enabling and profiting from the obliteration of innocent
people’s lives must cease. Corporate entities must refuse to be complicit in human rights
violations and international crimes or be held to account.

II. Methodology
5. “Corporate entities” in this report refers to business enterprises, multinational
corporations, for-profit and not-for-profit entities, whether private, public or State-owned.7
Corporate responsibility applies regardless of the size, sector, operational context, ownership
and structure of the entity.8

1 Philip Stern, Empires Incorporated: The Corporations that Built British Colonialism (Harvard
University Press, 2023); L.H. Roper, “Private Enterprise, Colonialism, and the Atlantic World”,
Oxford Research Encyclopedia: Latin American History (2018).
2 Nick Estes, Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the
Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance (London, Verso, 2019), pp. 43-50.
3 Susan Koshy, et al., (eds.) Colonial Racial Capitalism (Durham: Duke University Press, 2022).
4 Patrick Wolfe, “Purchase by Other Means: The Palestine Nakba and Zionism’s Conquest of
Economics”, Settler Colonial Studies, vol. 2, No. 1 (2012).
5
Andy Clarno, Neoliberal Apartheid: Palestine/Israel and South Africa after 1994 (Chicago, The
University of Chicago Press, 2017).
6 www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/west-bank-large-scale-house-demolitions-ongoing-
israeli-forces.
7 Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, Principle 4
8 Guiding Principle 14.

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6. The report builds on extensive literature, especially by civil society9 and by the
Working Group on Business and Human Rights, on how Israel has created and maintained
its own economy through the occupation, and a captive economy for the Palestinians.
7. It also builds upon and situates within the broader matrix of Israel’s unlawful
occupation, the database established by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights (OHCHR), pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 31/36 and
53/25. The “UN Database” lists only business enterprises that have “directly and indirectly
enabled, facilitated and profited from the construction and growth of the settlements”.10
8. The Special Rapporteur developed a database of 1000 corporate entities from the
unprecedented 200+ submissions received, following her call for input when preparing this
investigation.11 This helped map how corporate entities worldwide have been implicated in
human rights violations and international crimes in the occupied Palestinian territory. Over
45 entities named in the report have been duly informed of the facts that led the Special
Rapporteur to formulate a series of allegations: 15 replied. The complex web of corporate
structures – and the often obscured links between parents and subsidiaries, franchises, joint
ventures, licencees, etc. – implicates many more. The investigation behind this report
demonstrates the lengths to which corporations will go to conceal their complicity. 12
9. The report is complemented by an annex presenting the relevant legal framework.

III. Legal context

10. The law governing corporate responsibility has deep roots in the historic relationship
between violent dispossession and private power, and the legacy of corporate collusion with
settler-colonialism and racial segregation.13
11. Early charter companies, granted broad State-like powers, gradually evolved into
private “limited liability” corporations as intercolonial trade grew vital to European
economies.14 Colonial powers continued to rely on these relationships to outsource, obscure
and avoid accountability for the dispossession and enslavement of Indigenous peoples and
the expropriation of their resources.15 Corporations have not only inherited the benefits of
this legal veil of separation, but have also emerged as shapers of international law.16
12. Today, some corporate conglomerates exceed the GDP of sovereign States. 17
Sometimes wielding more power – political, economic and discursive – than States
themselves, corporations enjoy increasing recognition as rights-holders, with still insufficient
corresponding obligations. The asymmetry of immense power without sufficiently justiciable
accountability exposes a fundamental global governance gap.
13. Corporations and their home States – primarily Global Minority States – continue to
exploit structural inequalities rooted in colonial dispossession. 18 Meanwhile, weaker
regulatory systems in formerly colonized States, and development and investment
imperatives mean corporations often evade accountability.19

9 www.bdsmovement.net; www.whoprofits.org; www.dontbuyintooccupation.org;

www.investigate.afsc.org.
10 A/HRC/22/63, para 96; A/HRC/RES/31/36 and A/HRC/43/71.
11 www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for-input/2024/call-input-report-special-rapporteur-occupied-palestinian-
territory-human.
12 www.somo.nl/mind-the-gap/.
13 D. Lustig, “The Enduring Charter”, in M.J. Durkee (eds) States, Firms and Their Legal Fictions
(Cambridge University Press, 2024).
14 Roper, “Private Enterprise”.
15 Koshy, Colonial Racial Capitalism, p.4.
16
Federica Violi, “Navigating Corporate Accountability in International Economic Law: A Critical
Overview” in Ioannis Papadopoulos et al (eds), Handbook of Accountability Studies: Politics, Law,
Business, Work (Elgar Publishing, forthcoming 2025).
17 www.realbusinessrescue.co.uk/advice-hub/companies-worth-more-than-countries.
18 Adom Getachew, Worldmaking after Empire (Princeton University Press, 2019), pp. 22-26.
19 Violi, “Navigating Corporate Accountability”.

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14. Nevertheless, important precedents exist. The post-Holocaust Industrialists’ Trials

laid the groundwork for recognizing the international criminal responsibility of corporate
executives for participation in international crimes.20 By addressing corporate complicity in
apartheid, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission helped shape corporate
responsibility for human rights violations. 21 Increasing domestic and international litigation
signal a growing trend toward corporate accountability.22
15. The case of Palestine further tests international standards.
16. Today, the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights set out the normative
framework for States’ and corporate entities’ compliance with international law.23 States have
the primary obligation to prevent, investigate, punish and remedy human rights abuses by
third parties, and may breach their obligations if they fail to do so. The Guiding Principles
crystallize the human rights standards applicable to corporate conduct which apply regardless
of whether states uphold their primary obligations. International humanitarian law and
criminal law also confer specific obligations and liabilities on private actors,24 with domestic
jurisdictions primarily responsible for enforcement.
17. The Guiding Principles establish a continuum of responsibilities, depending on
whether corporate entities cause, contribute to or are directly linked with adverse human
rights impacts.25 In conflicts, businesses must observe heightened human rights due diligence
to identify concerns and adjust their conduct. 26 The liability of corporate entities will be
determined by their actions and by human rights impact: due diligence is not sufficient to
absolve corporations of liability.27 At a minimum, corporate entities directly linked to human
rights impacts must exercise leverage or consider termination of their activities or
relationships. Failure to act accordingly may give rise to liability. Where violations constitute
crimes, corporate executives and, increasingly, entities themselves, may be held accountable
for their knowledge and material contributions to crimes.28
18. In the occupied Palestinian territory, building on decades of documented human rights
violations and crimes, recent judicial developments leave no room for doubt that corporate
engagement with any component of the occupation is connected with violations of jus cogens
norms and international crimes.29 Citing racial segregation and apartheid, violations of the
right to self-determination and the prohibition on the use of force, the International Court of
Justice (ICJ) unequivocally affirmed the illegality of Israel’s presence including military,
colonies, infrastructure and resource control.30 Furthermore, the atrocities committed since
October 2023 triggered proceedings for genocide before the ICJ, and for war crimes and
crimes against humanity before the ICC. The ICJ has ordered Israel to stop creating life-
destroying conditions, and, in Nicaragua v Germany, reminded States of their international
obligations to avoid transferring arms that might be used to violate international
conventions.31

20 The I.G. Farben Trial, United States Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, 14 August 1947-29 July 1948;
Anita Ramasastry, “Corporate Complicity: From Nuremberg to Rangoon - An Examination of Forced
Labor Cases and Their Impact on the Liability of Multinational Corporations”, Berkeley Journal of
International Law, vol 20 (2002).
21 www.justice.gov.za/trc/report/finalreport/Volume%204.pdf, pp. 21-27.
22 Elies van Sliedregt, “The Future of International Criminal Justice is Corporate”, Journal of
International Criminal Justice (2025).
23 https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/publications/guidingprinciplesbusinesshr_en.pdf.
24 www.undocs.org/A/75/212, para 10; A/75/212, para 11; see
https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/commentaries/7_7_2019.pdf, pp. 81-84.
25 Guiding principle 13.
26 www.undp.org/publications/heightened-human-rights-due-diligence-business-conflict-affected-
contexts-guide.
27 Guiding Principle 17 commentary.
28
ILC, Draft articles on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity, with commentaries,
2019, A/74/10, pp. 81-84; A/75/212, para. 11.
29 https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session59/a-
hrc-59-23-annex.pdf.
30 A/79/384, paras. 5-7.
31 A/79/384, para. 8.

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19. These decisions place on corporate entities a prima facie responsibility to not engage
and/or to withdraw totally and unconditionally from any associated dealings, and to ensure
that any engagement with Palestinians enables their self-determination.
20. Where corporate entities continue their activities and relationships with Israel – with
its economy, military, public and private sectors connected to the occupied Palestinian
territory – they may be found to have knowingly contributed to:
• violation of the Palestinian right to self-determination;
• annexation of Palestinian territory, maintenance of an unlawful occupation and
therefore the crime of aggression and associated human rights violations;
• crimes of apartheid and genocide, and
• other ancillary crimes and violations.
21. Both criminal and civil laws in various jurisdictions can be invoked to hold corporate
entities or their executives accountable for violations of human rights and/or crimes under
international law.

IV. From the economy of settler-colonial occupation to the

economy of genocide
22. Settler-colonialism involves extraction and profit from, and colonization of, land
through the expulsion of its owners.32 In Palestine, historically, companies have driven and
enabled the process of displacement-replacement of the Arab population, foundational to the
logic of settler-colonial erasure.33 The Jewish National Fund, a land-purchasing corporate
entity founded in 1901, helped plan and carry out the gradual removal of Arab Palestinians,
which intensified with the Nakba34 and has continued ever since.35
23. Increasingly aided by corporate entities, Israel has pursued Palestinian dispossession
and displacement, especially after 1967.36 The corporate sector has materially contributed to
this endeavour by providing Israel with the weapons and machinery required to destroy
homes, schools, hospitals, places of leisure and worship, livelihoods and productive assets
such as olive groves and orchards, to segregate and control communities and restrict access
to natural resources.37 By helping to militarize and incentivize illegal Israeli presence in the
occupied Palestinian territory, they have contributed to the creation of the conditions for
Palestinian ethnic cleansing.38

32 Sai Englert and Gargi Bhattacharyya, “Capital’s genocide: a conversation on racial capitalism, settler
colonialism, and possible worlds after Gaza”, Journal Of Holy Land And Palestine Studies, vol. 23,
No. 2 (2024), pp. 172-175.
33
Sherene Seikaly, Men of Capital: Scarcity and Economy in Mandate Palestine (Stanford University
Press, 2016), pp. 6-8.
34 Gershon Shafir, “Zionism and Colonialism: A Comparative Approach”, in Michael Barnett (ed),
Israel in Comparative Perspective: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom (SUNY Press, 1996), pp.
234-237.
35 www.kkl-jnf.org/about-kkl-jnf/kkl-jnf-id/goals-actions/; www.peacenow.org.il/en/settler-national-
fund-keren-kayemeth-leisraels-acquisition-of-west-bank-land; www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2021-
02-14/ty-article/.premium/jewish-national-fund-okays-plan-to-expand-west-bank-
settlements/0000017f-e7d9-d62c-a1ff-fffbefe10000.
36 Sheila Ryan, “Israeli Economic Policy in the Occupied Areas: Foundations of a New Imperialism,”
MERIP Reports, No. 24 (1974), pp. 3-28.
37 www.arij.org/wp-
content/uploads/2016/03/The_Economic_Cost_of_the_Israeli_occupation_Report_upd.pdf;
www.alhaq.org/cached_uploads/download/2024/07/04/business-and-human-rights-booklet-
1720077751.pdf.
38 www.badil.org/phocadownloadpap/badil-new/publications/research/working-papers/FT-Coercive-
Environments.pdf; www.badil.org/cached_uploads/view/2024/06/10/forced-displacement-as-an-act-
of-genocide-in-the-gaza-strip-v6-1718021197.pdf.

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24. Corporate entities have played a key role in stifling the Palestinian economy, 39
sustaining Israeli expansion in occupied land while facilitating the replacement of
Palestinians. Draconian restrictions – on trade and investment, tree planting, fishing and
water for colonies – have debilitated agriculture and industry,40 and turned the occupied
Palestinian territory into a captive market;41 companies have profiteered by exploiting
Palestinian labour and resources, degrading and diverting natural resources, building and
powering colonies and selling and marketing derived goods and services in Israel, the
occupied Palestinian territory and globally.42 The 1993 Oslo Accords entrenched this
exploitation, de facto institutionalizing Israel’s monopoly over 61 per cent of the resource-
rich West Bank (Area C).43 Israel gains from this exploitation, while it costs the Palestinian
economy at least 35 per cent of its GDP. 44
25. Financial and academic institutions have also enabled the conditions for Palestinian
displacement-replacement. Banks, asset management firms, pension funds and insurers have
channelled finance into the illegal occupation. Universities – centres of intellectual growth
and power – have sustained the political ideology underpinning the colonization of
Palestinian land,45 developed weaponry and overlooked or even endorsed systemic
violence,46 while global research collaborations have obscured Palestinian erasure behind a
veil of academic neutrality.
26. After October 2023, long-standing systems of control, exploitation and dispossession
metamorphosed into economic, technological and political infrastructures mobilized to inflict
mass violence and immense destruction.47 Entities that previously enabled and profited from
Palestinian elimination and erasure within the economy of occupation, instead of disengaging
are now involved in the economy of genocide.
27. The following sections illustrate how eight key sectors, operating separately and
interdependently through the core pillars of the settler-colonial economy of displacement-
replacement, have adapted to its genocidal practices.

A. Displacement

28. Post-October 2023, weapons and military technologies used to advance Palestinian
expulsion have become tools for mass killing and destruction, rendering Gaza and parts of
the West Bank uninhabitable. Surveillance and incarceration technologies, ordinarily used to
enforce segregation/apartheid, have evolved into tools for indiscriminate targeting of the
Palestinian population. Heavy machinery previously used for house demolitions,
infrastructure destruction and resource seizure in the West Bank have been repurposed to

39 www.btselem.org/download/201105_dispossession_and_exploitation_eng.pdf .
40 UNCTAD, TD/B/1102, https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/tdbd1102_en.pdf;
UNCTAD/GDS/APP/2006/1; www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/5141/2022/en/, pp. 164-193.
41
Tariq Dana, “Dominate and pacify: Contextualizing the political economy of the occupied Palestinian
territories since 1967,” in Alaa Tartir, et. al. (eds), Political Economy of Palestine: Critical,
Interdisciplinary, and Decolonial Perspectives (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2021), pp.
25-47; Shir Hever, The Political Economy of Israel’s Occupation: Repression beyond Exploitation
(Pluto Press, 2010), pp. 27-37.
42 www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/israel0116_web2.pdf.
43 https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/654801468176641469/pdf/473230WP0GZ0Re101PU
BLIC10Box334128B.pdf, pp.2-3.
44 https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/257131468140639464/pdf/Area-C-and-the-future-of-
the-Palestinian-economy.pdf p. 5.
45 Maya Wind, Towers of Ivory and Steel: How Israeli Universities Deny Palestinian Freedom. London
(NY: Verso, 2024); Uri Yacobi Keller, “Academic Boycott of Israel and the Complicity of Israeli
Academic Institutions in Occupation of Palestinian Territories”, in Shir Hever (ed.), Economy of the
Occupation (Alternative Information Center, 2009), p. 5.
46 S. Abdelnour, “Making a Killing: Israel’s Military-Innovation Ecosystem and the Globalization of
Violence”. Organization Studies vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 333-337; Ilan Pappé, The Idea of Israel: A
History of Power and Knowledge (London: Verso, 2015), pp. 26-31.
47 TD/B/71/3; A/79/343.

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obliterate Gaza’s urban landscape, preventing displaced populations from returning and
reconstituting as a community.
Military sector: the business of elimination
29. Militarized violence created the State of Israel and remains the engine of its settler-
colonial project.48 Israeli and international weapons manufacturers have developed
increasingly effective systems to drive Palestinians off their land. By collaborating and
competing, they have refined technologies that enable Israel to intensify oppression,
repression and destruction.49
30. Prolonged occupation and repeated military campaigns have provided testing grounds
for cutting-edge military capabilities: air defence platforms, drones, AI-powered targeting
tools and even the US-led F-35 programme. These technologies are then marketed as “battle-
proven”.50
31. The military-industrial complex has become the economic backbone of the State.51
Between 2020 and 2024, Israel was the eighth largest arms exporter worldwide. 52 The two
most prominent Israeli weapons companies – Elbit Systems, established as a public-private
partnership and later privatized, and state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) – are
among the top 50 arms manufacturers globally.53 Since 2023, Elbit has cooperated closely on
Israeli military operations, embedding key staff in the Ministry of Defense,54 and was
awarded the 2024 Israeli Defense Prize.55 Elbit and IAI provide a critical domestic supply of
weaponry,56 and reinforce Israel’s military alliances through arms exports and joint
development of military technology.57
32. International partnerships providing weaponry and technical support have enhanced
Israel’s capacity to perpetuate apartheid and, recently, to sustain its assault on Gaza. Israel
benefits from the largest-ever defence procurement programme – for the F-35 fighter jet,58
led by US-based Lockheed Martin,59 alongside at least 1600 other companies including
Italian manufacturer Leonardo S.p.A, 60 and eight States. Components and parts constructed
globally contribute to the Israeli F-35 fleet that Israel customizes and maintains in partnership
with Lockheed Martin and domestic companies.61 Israel was the first to fly the F-35 in combat

48 Antony Loewenstein, The Palestine Laboratory (Verso, 2023), p. 24.

49 Ali Musleh, “Designing in Real-Time: An Introduction to Weapons Design in the Settler-Colonial
Present of Palestine”, Design and Culture, vol. 10, No. 1 (2018) pp. 33-54.
50 www.linkedin.com/posts/israelimod_israel-showcases-advanced-defense-technologies-activity-
7325900544680595456-gQ-C/; Loewenstein, The Palestine Laboratory, pp. 5-6.
51 Gabriel Sheffer and Oren Barak (eds), Militarism and Israeli Society (Indiana University Press,
2010).
52 www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2025-03/fs_2503_at_2024_0.pdf, p. 2.
53 www.sipri.org/visualizations/2024/sipri-top-100-arms-producing-and-military-services-companies-
world-2023.
54 Submission (2.45); https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-prioritizing-israel-creates-problems-for-elbit-
systems-1001501806; www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEexR-3VrjI (2024);
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbIyvbbC68A (2025) 42 mins.
55 www.elbitsystems.com/blog/elbit-in-2024-a-fortress-of-innovation;
www.linkedin.com/posts/israelimod_israel-defense-prize-2024-awarded-for-groundbreaking-activity-
7258936620320481281-qkbU/.
56 www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-Defence/israel-signs-deals-with-defence-firm-elbit-
makebombs-domestically-2025-01-07/.
57 https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-arms-sales-break-record-for-4th-year-in-row-reaching-14-8-
billion-in-2024/ .
58 https://sgp.fas.org/crs/weapons/RL30563.pdf; https://ploughshares.ca/global-production-of-the-
israeli-f-35i-joint-strike-fighter/; https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-
office/2016/09/14/fact-sheet-memorandum-understanding-reached-israel;
www.gov.il/en/pages/ef35adir.
59
investigate.afsc.org/company/lockheed-martin.
60
https://investigate.info/company/leonardo.
61 www.19fortyfive.com/2025/04/f-35i-adir-israels-custom-f-35-that-no-other-nation-has/;
www.airandspaceforces.com/PDF/MagazineArchive/Documents/2017/April%202017/0417_Grudo_I
sraeli.pdf; https://www.israeldefense.co.il/en/node/38893; www.iai.co.il/f-16-aerostructures-and-f-35-

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in 2018, and then to use it in “beast mode” by 2025. 62 Lockheed Martin F-35 and F-16 fighter
jets, pivotal to the Israeli air force,63 have significant carrying and fire capacity, including the
2000lb GBU-31 JDAM bombs and, for F-35s, over 18,000lb of bombs at a time.64 Post-
October 2023, F-35s and F-16s have been integral to equipping Israel with the unprecedented
aerial power to drop an estimated 85,000 tons of bombs,65 kill and injure more than 179,411
Palestinians66 and obliterate Gaza.67
33. Drones, hexacopters and quadcopters have also been omnipresent killing machines in
the skies of Gaza.68 Drones largely developed and supplied by Elbit Systems and IAI have
long flown alongside these fighter jets, surveilling Palestinians and delivering target
intelligence.69 In the last two decades, with support from these companies and collaborations
with institutions like Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),70 Israel’s drones acquired
automated weapons systems and the ability to fly in swarm formation. 71
34. To supply Israel with these weapons and facilitate arms export and import
transactions, manufacturers depend on a web of intermediaries, including legal, auditing and
consulting firms, as well as arms dealers, agents and brokers. 72 Suppliers like Japanese
FANUC Corporation provide robotic machinery for weapons production lines, including for
IAI, Elbit Systems and Lockheed Martin.73 Shipping companies such as Danish A.P. Moller

wing-lockheed-martin; https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2025/02/15/israel-awaits-eight-upgraded-f-35is-
with-improved-software/.
62 https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/f-35i-adir-stealth-fighter-most-dangerous-warplane-earth-
208569; www.twz.com/israeli-f-35-shoots-down-cruise-missile; www.twz.com/air/israeli-f-35s-first-
to-use-beast-mode-in-combat; https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/f-35-beast-mode-how-americas-
stealth-jet-becomes-bomb-truck-207837.
63 www.wdmma.org/israeli-air-force.php#google_vignette; www.lockheedmartin.com/en-il/index.html.
64 https://ndia.dtic.mil/wp-content/uploads/2010/armament/TuesdayLandmarkADougHayward.pdf, pp.
12, 14; https://www.f-16.net/f-16_armament_article9.html;
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/weapons-platforms/gbu-31-32-38-jdam/.
65 https://environment.ps/en/gazza/ .
66 As at 5 Jun 2025,
https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiODAxNTYzMDYtMjQ3YS00OTMzLTkxMWQtOTU1NW
EwMzE5NTMwIiwidCI6ImY2MTBjMGI3LWJkMjQtNGIzOS04MTBiLTNkYzI4MGFmYjU5MCI
sImMiOjh9.
67 www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/countries/opt/20240619-ohchr-thematic-report-
indiscrim-disprop-attacks-gaza-oct-dec2023.pdf pp. 6-12; https://danwatch.dk/en/major-civilian-
casualties-danish-equipped-fighter-jets-behind-bloody-attack-in-gaza/;
www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/8668/2024/en/, pp. 106-120;
https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/budget-policy-operations/us-f-35-sustainment-lead-details-
israel-fleet-ops-october; www.reuters.com/world/us-has-sent-israel-thousands-2000-pound-bombs-
since-oct-7-2024-06-28/ .
68 www.idf.il/en/mini-sites/our-corps-unitsbrigades/sky-rider-unit/sky-rider-unit/;
https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6166/Gaza:-Israel-systematically-uses-quadcopters-to-kill-
Palestinians-from-a-close-distance.
69 Stefan Borg, “Assembling Israeli drone warfare: Loitering surveillance and operational
sustainability”, Security Dialogue, vol. 52, No. 5 (2021).
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0967010620956796;
www.bbc.com/arabic/articles/c98zw7yqr21o; https://dronewars.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/DW-
FracturedLives-WEB.pdf p. 3.
70 Submission (3.1.17); https://arxiv.org/pdf/2212.03298; https://archive.org/details/MIT-research-
expenditures-by-sponsor-2023/page/n1/mode/2up.
71 www.mako.co.il/news-military/6361323ddea5a810/Article-2c5864e6289cb81027.htm;
www.newscientist.com/article/2282656-israel-used-worlds-first-ai-guided-combat-drone-swarm-in-
gaza-attacks/; www.Defenceone.com/ideas/2021/07/israels-drone-swarm-over-gaza-should-
worryeveryone/183156/.
72
Andrew Feinstein and Paul Holden, “The Failure of the Regulation of the Global Arms Trade as a
Consequence of High-Level Conflicts of Interest”, Brown Journal of World Affairs, vol. XXVII, No.
1 (2020).
73 Submission (2.39); https://jobs.iai.co.il/job/76041120/;
www.facebook.com/watch/?mibextid=WC7FNe&v=415983857439668&rdid=uNT8CldfcPhxginm;
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY9lmDeRKpg.

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– Maersk A/S transport components, parts, weapons and raw materials, sustaining a steady
flow of US-supplied military equipment post-October 2023.74
35. For Israeli companies like Elbit and IAI, the ongoing genocide has been a profitable
venture. The 65 per cent surge in Israel’s military spending from 2023 to 2024 – amounting
to $46.5 billion,75 one of the highest per capita worldwide – generated a sharp surge in their
annual profits.76 Foreign arms companies, especially the producers of munitions and
ordnance, also profit.77
Surveillance and carcerality: The dark side of the "Start-up Nation”
36. Repression of Palestinians has become progressively automated, with tech companies
providing dual-use78 infrastructure to integrate mass data collection and surveillance, while
profiting from the unique testing ground for military technology offered by the occupied
Palestinian territory.79 Fuelled by US-tech giants establishing subsidiaries and research and
development centres in Israel,80 Israel’s claims of security needs have spurred unparalleled
developments in carceral and surveillance services, from CCTV networks, biometric
surveillance, high-tech checkpoints networks, “smart walls” and drone surveillance, to cloud
computing, artificial intelligence and data analytics supporting on-the-ground military
personnel.81
37. Israeli tech firms often grow out of military infrastructure and strategy, 82 as did NSO
Group, founded by ex-Unit 8200 members.83 Its Pegasus spyware, designed for covert
smartphone surveillance, has been used against Palestinian activists84 and licensed globally
to target leaders, journalists and human rights defenders.85 Exported under the Defense
Export Control Law, NSO group surveillance technology enables “spyware diplomacy”
while reinforcing state impunity.86

74 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/664aed65d320123f2b3ab647/t/67534581b1692e1777d81bd1/
1733510532268/Report-MaerskShipmentsIsrael-Rev7Nov2024-Final.pdf.
75 www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2025-04/2504_fs_milex_2024.pdf
76 www.elbitsystems.com/sites/default/files/2025-03/18032025e.pdf;
www.linkedin.com/posts/israelimod_israel-mod-purchases-advanced-drones-and-activity-
7269631533118889984-4NIO/; www.linkedin.com/posts/israelimod_israel-mod-awards-55m-
contract-to-elbit-activity-7330194304629403648-YUG-/; https://defence-industry.eu/israel-
aerospace-industries-iai-reports-record-profits-and-orders-in-2024/ .
77 www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/lmt/historical?page=1&rows_per_page=10&timeline=y5;
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-has-sent-israel-thousands-2000-pound-bombs-since-oct-7-2024-
06-28/;
https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2023/2024/Costs%20of%20War_US%20
Support%20Since%20Oct%207%20FINAL%20v2.pdf, pp. 21-22;
www.rheinmetall.com/en/products/weapons-and-munition/weapons-and-ammunition/aircraft-bombs;
www.usaspending.gov/ard/CONT_AWD_W52P1J22F0208_9700_W52P1J19D0015_9700.
78 This technology should be duly considered under: www.wassenaar.org/app/uploads/2019/12/WA-
DOC-19-Public-Docs-Vol-I-Founding-Documents.pdf; see EU Regulation 2021/821, https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/dual-use-export-controls.html.
79
Consider: Rhys Machold, “Reconsidering the laboratory thesis: Palestine/Israel and the geopolitics of
representation”, Political Geography, vol. 65 (2018).
80 https://research.ibm.com/labs/israel; www.microsoftrnd.co.il/whoweare#AboutUs;
https://startup.google.com/campus/tel-aviv/; https://pages.awscloud.com/rs/112-TZM-
766/images/AWS%20Economic%20Impact%20Study%20Israel%20Infographics.pdf.
81 www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/6701/2023/en/; Submission (2.24).
82 Loewenstein, The Palestine Laboratory, pp. 83-85; https://besacenter.org/is-israel-the-start-up-nation-
because-of-its-unique-security-situation/ .
83 Loewenstein, The Palestine Laboratory, pp. 147-148.
84 www.amnesty.org/en/latest/reseivisarch/2021/11/devices-of-palestinian-human-rights-defenders-
hacked-with-nso-groups-pegasus-spyware-2/.
85 www.amnesty.org/en/documents/doc10/4491/2021/en/ www.haaretz.com/israel-news/tech-
news/2022-04-05/ty-article-magazine/nso-pegasus-spyware-file-complete-list-of-individuals-
targeted/0000017f-ed7a-d3be-ad7f-ff7b5a600000.
86 www.gov.il/en/pages/mod-tightens-control-of-cyber-exports-6-december-2021;
www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2023-0189_EN.html, paras 19, 85;
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/tech-news/2022-02-03/ty-article/.premium/israels-spyware-diplomacy-
is-an-extension-of-its-long-bloody-history-of-arms-sales/0000017f-f882-ddde-abff-fce787ac0000.

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38. IBM has operated in Israel since 1972, training military/intelligence personnel –
especially from Unit 8200 – for the tech sector and start-up scene.87 Since 2019, IBM Israel
has operated and upgraded the central database of the Population, Immigration and Borders
Authority (PIBA), 88 enabling collection, storage and governmental use of biometric data on
Palestinians, and supporting Israel’s discriminatory permit regime. 89 Before IBM, Hewlett
Packard Enterprises (HPE)90 maintained this database and its Israeli subsidiary still provides
servers during the transition.91 HP has long enabled Israel’s apartheid systems, supplying
technology to COGAT, the prison service and police.92 Since HP’s 2015 split into HPE and
HP Inc., opaque business structures have obscured the roles of their seven remaining Israeli
subsidiaries.93
39. Microsoft has been active in Israel since 1991, developing its largest centre outside
the US.94 Its technologies are embedded in the prison service, police, universities and schools
– including in colonies.95 Since 2003, Microsoft has integrated its systems and civilian tech
across the Israeli military,96 while acquiring Israeli cybersecurity and surveillance start-ups.97
40. As Israel’s apartheid, military and population-control systems generate increasing
volumes of data, its reliance on cloud storage and computing has grown. In 2021, Israel
awarded Alphabet Inc (Google) and Amazon.com Inc. a $1.2 billion contract (Project
Nimbus)98 – largely funded through Ministry of Defense expenditure99 – to provide core tech
infrastructure.
41. Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon grant Israel virtually government-wide access to
their cloud and AI technologies, enhancing data processing, decision-making and
surveillance/analysis capacities.100 In October 2023, when Israel’s internal military cloud
overloaded,101 Microsoft Azure and Project Nimbus Consortium stepped in with critical
cloud and AI infrastructure. 102 Their Israel-located servers ensure data sovereignty and a
shield from accountability,103 under favourable contracts offering minimal restrictions or

87 www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/7236;
https://finder.startupnationcentral.org/program_page/ibm-alpha-zone.
88 www.gov.il/he/pages/ibm_maintanance_contract_with_piba
89 A/HRC/53/59, para 93; www.truthdig.com/articles/the-big-tech-behind-israels-digital-apartheid/
90 www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/3774.
91 https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/3774.
92 https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/137.
93 www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/47217/000004721724000080/hp10-31x24ex21subsidiaries.htm;
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1645590/000164559023000117/ex-21x10312023.htm;
https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/160.
94 https://bdsmovement.net/microsoft.
95 https://medium.com/@notechforapartheid/a-marriage-made-in-hell-an-introduction-to-microsofts-
complicity-in-apartheid-and-genocide-d7dfad65a19; https://mr.gov.il/ilgstorefront/en/p/646740
96 https://mondoweiss.net/2021/03/how-microsoft-is-invested-in-israeli-settler-colonialism/;
www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-2302074,00.html.
97
https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2015/09/08/microsoft-acquires-adallom-to-advance-identity-and-
security-in-the-cloud/; https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2020/06/22/microsoft-acquires-cyberx-to-
accelerate-and-secure-customers-iot-deployments/.
98 https://mr.gov.il/ilgstorefront/en/news/details/111222;
www.documentcloud.org/documents/24630181-0683x000010wodmqa2/.
99 www.nytimes.com/2024/12/03/technology/google-israel-contract-project-nimbus.html;
www.documentcloud.org/documents/24630178-intercept-translation-of-appendix-b-of-project-
nimbus-tender-document/.
100 www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/microsoft-confirms-its-providing-ai-and-cloud-services-to-
israeli-military-for-war-in-gaza/; www.972mag.com/cloud-israeli-army-gaza-amazon-google-
microsoft/; www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/01/21/google-ai-israel-war-hamas-attack-
gaza/.
101 https://www.pc.co.il/news/‫וסייבר‬-‫מידע‬-‫אבטחת‬/412016; www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLBDfnZJrC8.
102
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/23/israeli-military-gaza-war-microsoft;
https://theintercept.com/2022/07/24/google-israel-artificial-intelligence-project-nimbus/; Submission
(2.27).
103 www.gov.il/en/pages/_bpress_20102022; www.gov.il/en/pages/press_01082023_b;
https://news.microsoft.com/source/emea/features/microsoft-to-launch-new-cloud-datacenter-region-
in-israel/.

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oversight.104 In July 2024, an Israeli colonel described cloud tech as “a weapon in every sense
of the word”, citing these companies.105
42. The Israeli military has developed AI systems like “Lavender”, “Gospel” and
“Where’s Daddy?” to process data and generate lists of targets,106 reshaping modern warfare
and illustrating AI’s dual-use nature. Palantir Technology Inc., whose tech collaboration with
Israel long predates October 2023, expanded its support to the Israeli military post-October
2023.107 There are reasonable grounds to believe Palantir has provided automatic predictive
policing technology, core defence infrastructure for rapid and scaled-up construction and
deployment of military software, and its Artificial Intelligence Platform, which allows real-
time battlefield data integration for automated decision-making.108 In January 2024, Palantir
announced a new strategic partnership with Israel and held a board meeting in Tel Aviv “in
solidarity”;109 in April 2025, Palantir’s CEO responded to accusations that Palantir had killed
Palestinians in Gaza by saying, “mostly terrorists, that’s true”.110 Both incidents are indicative
of executive-level knowledge and purpose vis-à-vis Israel’s unlawful use of force, and failure
to prevent such acts or withdraw involvement.111
43. Israel as “Start-up Nation”, incentivized by the post-9/11 global securitization boom,
has received a significant boost through the genocide. It ranked first globally for the number
of start-ups per capita, with a 143 per cent growth in military tech start-ups in 2024, and with
tech comprising 64 per cent of Israeli exports throughout the genocide.112
Civilian guise: Heavy machinery in service of settler-colonial destruction
44. Civilian technologies have long served as dual-use tools of settler-colonial
occupation.113 Israeli military operations heavily rely on equipment from leading global
manufacturers to unground Palestinians from their land,114 demolishing homes, public
buildings, farmland, roads and other vital infrastructure. Since October 2023, this machinery
has been integral to damaging and destroying 70 per cent of structures and 81 per cent of
cropland in Gaza.115

104 Submission (2.29); www.timesofisrael.com/israel-signs-deal-for-cloud-services-with-google-

amazon/; https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-
1vSF6HMW6qiy0g2eoK2ymcm_qUi39cCZLvjzRlzKgDOhfWiQQNutwrtdRB_-
qkefj2uNVC5hs6VgY2Q9/pub; https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2025/05/15/statement-
technology-israel-gaza/.
105 www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLBDfnZJrC8.
106 www.hrw.org/news/2024/09/10/gaza-israeli-militarys-digital-tools-risk-civilian-harm;
www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/04/gaza-un-experts-deplore-use-purported-ai-commit-
domicide-gaza-call; https://verfassungsblog.de/gaza-artificial-intelligence-and-kill-lists/;
https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1656285.
107 Letter from Palantir, 22 May 2025.
108
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2017-05-31/ty-article-magazine/.premium/israel-jails-palestinians-
who-fit-terrorist-profile/0000017f-f85f-d044-adff-fbff5c8a0000;
https://blog.palantir.com/announcing-palantir-government-web-services-9fa1cdbbc6fc;
www.palantir.com/platforms/aip/; https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-
0001321655/d75a90fd-c80a-40bd-b60c-1f5b8c10127e.pdf; www.thenation.com/article/world/nsa-
palantir-israel-gaza-ai/; https://responsiblestatecraft.org/peter-thiel-israel-palantir/
109 www.palantir.com/assets/xrfr7uokpv1b/3MuEeA8MLbLDAyxixTsiIe/9e4a11a7fb058554a8a1e3cd
83e31c09/C134184_finaleprint.pdf; www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-12/palantir-israel-
agree-to-strategic-partnership-for-battle-tech.
110 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uQCazCId_9o (Time: 1:24:12-1:25:15).
111 Consider: www.alhaq.org/cached_uploads/download/2024/06/11/11-june-2024-obligations-of-third-
states-and-corporations-to-prevent-and-punish-genocide-in-gaza-3-1718133118.pdf.
112 https://startupnationcentral.org/wp-content/uploads/EcoTalk-JAN25.pdf; www.jefferies.com/wp-
content/uploads/sites/4/2025/03/Israel-in-the-New-Middle-East-April-2025.pdf
113 The Wassenaar Arrangement .
114 Eyal Weizman, Ungrounding: The Architecture of a Genocide (Penguin, forthcoming 2026).
115 https://unosat.org/products/4130; https://unosat.org/products/4072; https://content.forensic-
architecture.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/FA_A-Spatial-Analysis-of-the-Israeli-militarys-
conduct-in-Gaza-since-October-2023.pdf, p. 53.

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45. For decades, Caterpillar Inc.116 has provided Israel with equipment used to demolish
Palestinian homes and infrastructure,117 through both the US Foreign Military Financing
programme118 and an exclusive licensee requisitioned by Israeli law into the military. 119 In
partnership with companies like IAI, 120 Elbit Systems 121 and Leonardo-owned RADA
Electronic Industries,122 Israel has evolved Caterpillar’s D9 bulldozer into automated,
remote-commanded core weaponry of the Israeli military,123 deployed in almost every
military activity since 2000, clearing incursion lines, “neutralizing” the territory and killing
Palestinians.124 Since October 2023, Caterpillar equipment has been documented in use
carrying out mass demolitions125 – including of homes,126 mosques127 and life-sustaining
infrastructure128 – raid hospitals129 and crushing Palestinians to death.130 In 2025, Caterpillar
secured a further multi-million dollar contract with Israel.131
46. Korean HD Hyundai132 and its partially-owned subsidiary, Doosan,133 alongside
Swedish Volvo Group134 and other major heavy machinery manufacturers, have long been
linked to destruction of Palestinian property, each supplying equipment through exclusively
licensed Israeli dealers.135 Volvo’s licensee is a United Nations Database-listed company and
its business partner in Merkavim Transport Pty Ltd, which produces armoured buses
servicing colonies.136 Since 2000, Volvo machinery has been used to raze Palestinian areas,
including in east Jerusalem137 and Masafer Yatta.138 For over a decade, HD Hyundai
machinery has been used to demolish Palestinian homes139 and raze farmland, including olive

116 www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/3772 .
117 www.amnestyusa.org/blog/caterpillar-incs-role-in-human-rights-violations-in-the-occupied-
palestinian-territories/; www.btselem.org/punitive_demolition.
118 US Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, Cynthia Corrie et al. v. Caterpillar Inc, Case No. 05-36210 (2007);
www.dsca.mil/Congressional-Notification-Archive/Article/4088243/israel-caterpillar-d9-bulldozers.
119 https://catused.cat.com/en/dealer.aspx?orgid=%7Bef3993c9-e4f1-4657-a305-51c5883c06f3%7D;
www.ite-cat.co.il/en; www.haaretz.com/2009-03-11/ty-article/idf-to-draft-civilians-to-maintain-
bulldozers-in-battle/0000017f-e7a4-df2c-a1ff-fff518120000.
120 www.iai.co.il/p/panda.
121 www.elbitsystems.com/news/israeli-ministry-defense-selects-elbit-systems-iron-fist-light-decoupled-
active-protection.
122 https://usa.leonardo.com/en/press-release-detail/-/detail/leonardo-drs-announces-closing-of-merger-
with-rada; www.drsrada.com/blog/israeli-ministry-of-defense-selects-iron-fist-aps-which-includes-
radas-compact-hemispheric-radars.
123 www.forbes.com/sites/erictegler/2023/10/24/israels-armored-caterpillar-bulldozers-will-be-active-in-
gaza/; www.ynetnews.com/article/rknechyct; www.calcalist.co.il/local_news/article/sj11q00i8nt .
124 https://corporateoccupation.org/2020/04/24/caterpillar-a-company-profile/;
https://bdsmovement.net/news/how-israel-uses-caterpillar-machinery-carry-out-extrajudicial-
executions; https://www.amnestyusa.org/blog/caterpillar-incs-role-in-human-rights-violations-in-the-
occupied-palestinian-territories/.
125 https://x.com/ytirawi/status/1855614179056439567.
126 https://x.com/trackingisrael/status/1875627003426255102 .
127
https://x.com/trackingisrael/status/1886853187316912638 .
128
https://x.com/trackingisrael/status/1926731978256060869 .
129 www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/3772 .
130 www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/israelpalestine-israeli-army-bulldozers-allegedly-run-
over-wounded-civilians-in-northern-gaza-co-did-not-respond/.
131 www.dsca.mil/Congressional-Notification-Archive/Article/4088243/israel-caterpillar-d9-bulldozers
132 www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/3771.
133 www.oemoffhighway.com/market-analysis/industry-news/news/21590588/hyundai-acquires-doosan;
www.hd-infracore.com/en/company/media/news-view/20175112 .
134 www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/3644 .
135 www.efco.co.il/en/hyundai/; www.mct.co.il/en/history/ .
136 www.mct.co.il/en/history/; www.merkavim.co.il/en/Project/34/Mars-Defender;
www.egged.co.il/Bus-924-Daf.aspx; www.egged.co.il/Bus-1001-Volvo-B12B.aspx;
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgFrrZzpQXY.
137 www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/home-demolitions-in-beit-hanina-executed-with-
volvo-and-hyundai-equipment-israel-the-occupied-territories/.
138 https://stopthewall.org/2022/06/02/who-is-aiding-israel-corporate-complicity-in-masafer-yatta-ethnic-
cleansing/.
139 www.whoprofits.org//writable/uploads/publications/1668628326_d431e6ac8c4db6e661ba.pdf.

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groves.140 After October 2023, Israel increased use of their equipment in the urban destruction
of Gaza,141 including flattening Rafah142 and Jabalia,143 after which the military obscured
their logos.144
47. These companies have continued supplying the Israeli market despite abundant
evidence of Israel’s criminal use of this machinery and repeated calls from human rights
groups to sever ties.145 Passive suppliers become deliberate contributors to a system of
displacement.

B. Replacement

48. As corporate actors have contributed to the destruction of Palestinian life in the
occupied Palestinian territory, they have also helped construction of what replaces it: building
colonies and their infrastructure, extracting and trading materials, energy and agricultural
products, bringing visitors to colonies as if to a regular holiday destination. Post-October
2023, these activities have sustained unprecedented growth in the settlement enterprise, with
corporate entities continuing to power and profit from the creation of conditions of life
calculated to destroy the Palestinian population, including through the near-total shutdown
of water, electricity and fuel.
Home on stolen land
49. More than 371 colonies and illegal outposts have been built, powered and traded with
by companies facilitating Israel’s replacement of the Indigenous population in the occupied
Palestinian territory. 146 In 2024, this intensified after administration of colonies moved from
military to civilian government and the Ministry of Construction and Housing budget
doubled, including $200 million for colony construction.147 From November 2023 to October
2024, Israel established 57 new colonies and outposts,148 with Israeli and international
companies supplying machinery, raw materials and logistical support.
50. Caterpillar, HD Hyundai and Volvo excavators and heavy equipment have been used
in the construction of illegal colonies for at least 10 years. 149 The German Heidelberg
Materials AG,150 through its subsidiary Hanson Israel, has contributed to pillage millions of
tons of dolomite rock from the Nahal Raba quarry on land seized from Palestinian villages

140 www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/138.
141 www.972mag.com/israel-gaza-total-urban-destruction/
https://x.com/YinonMagal/status/1917560269007470856.
142 https://x.com/ytirawi/status/1913376210790338961; https://tiktokgenocide.com/uploads/israeli-
soldiers-film-their-active-destruction-of-everything-in-rafah;
https://tiktokgenocide.com/uploads/4-israeli-excavators-destroying-buildings-othman-ibn-affan-
street-rafah; https://x.com/MiddleEastMnt/status/1852687041152045271;
https://x.com/ytirawi/status/1913376210790338961?s=46&t=JH7WTzQ0dcUtXAxqglAAxw;
https://x.com/PalinfoAr/status/1865994832922956257;
https://x.com/YinonMagal/status/1917560269007470856 .
143 https://x.com/trackingisrael/status/1877801096275431758;
https://x.com/EyeonPalestine/status/1863159845504835630;
https://x.com/LockMona/status/1863220509690720647 .
144 www.idf.il/en/mini-sites/idf-press-releases-israel-at-war/april-25-pr/the-golani-brigade-and-the-
188th-armored-brigade-established-the-morag-corridor/.
145 www.hrw.org/news/2004/11/21/israel-caterpillar-should-suspend-bulldozer-sales;
https://bdsmovement.net/news/hyundai-heavy-industries-end-complicity-with-apartheid
146 A/HRC/58/73, para 19.
147
A/HRC/58/73, para 16.
148 A/HRC/58/73, paras. 14, 19.
149 www.whoprofits.org//writable/uploads/publications/1668628326_d431e6ac8c4db6e661ba.pdf, pp.
60-61; https://corporateoccupation.org/2010/06/16/volvo-equipment-effective-tool-in-the-israeli-
occupation-of-palestine/ www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/3644.
150 www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/3840.

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in the West Bank.151 In 2018, Hanson Israel won a public tender to supply materials from
that quarry for colony construction, 152 and has since nearly exhausted the quarry, prompting
ongoing expansion requests.153
51. Various companies contributed to develop roads and public transport infrastructure
critical to establishing and expanding the colonies, and connecting them to Israel while
excluding and segregating Palestinians.154 Spanish/Basque Construcciones Auxiliar de
Ferrocarriles155 joined a consortium with a UN Database-listed company to maintain and
expand the Jerusalem Light Rail “Red Line” and build the new “Green Line”, 156 at a time
when other companies had withdrawn due to international pressure.157 These lines include 27
kilometres of new tracks and 53 new stations in the West Bank, connecting colonies with
West Jerusalem.158 Doosan and Volvo excavators and machinery have been used,159 and
Heidelberg’s subsidiary supplied materials for a light-rail bridge.160
52. Real estate companies sell properties in colonies to Israeli and international buyers.
Global real estate group, Keller Williams Realty LLC, through its Israeli franchisee KW
Israel,161 has had branches based in the colonies.162 In March 2024, Keller Williams, via
another franchisee, Home in Israel,163 ran a real estate roadshow in the US and Canada,164 co-
sponsored by several companies developing and marketing thousands of apartments in
colonies.165
The grip on natural resources: the incubator of conditions of life calculated to destroy
53. Since 1967, Israel has exercised systematic control over Palestinian natural resources,
building infrastructure that integrated its colonies into Israeli national systems and entrenched
Palestinian dependency on them.
54. When Israeli Defence Minister Gallant ordered a “complete siege” on Gaza on 9
October 2023, instantly cutting off water, electricity and fuel, this engineered dependency –
designed to displace and control life – was operationalized for genocide.166 Those supplies
have never been fully restored, contributing to the deliberate creation of conditions of life
calculated to bring about the destruction of Palestinians as a group. 167 This is also why the

151 www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/israel0116_web2.pdf, pp. 45-49; www.somo.nl/wp-

content/uploads/2020/02/ViolationsSetInStone-EN.pdf; https://media.business-
humanrights.org/media/documents/files/documents/Heidelberg_Cement_response.pdf .
152 www.somo.nl/download/39733/, p. 31;
https://mr.gov.il/ilgstorefront/en/p/attachment/005056BF4DAB1EDA95D45E47A9EB211B/%D7%9
E%D7%A1%D7%9E%D7%9B%D7%99%20%D7%94%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9A.
153 https://mavat.iplan.gov.il/SV4/1/7000965865/310;
www.heidelbergmaterials.com/sites/default/files/2024-
05/Group%20Payment%20Report%202023_engl_web.pdf, p. 23.
154 www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/3958;
https://badil.org/cached_uploads/view/2021/04/19/wp23-sfi-1618823935.pdf p. 33-40.
155
https://bdsmovement.net/boycott-caf.
156
www.cafmobility.com/en/press-room/jerusalem-tram-project/.
157 www.jadaliyya.com/Details/38503 .
158 https://pchrgaza.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/CAF-Submission_OHCHR_UN-database_-
December-2020.pdf; www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/161 .
159 www.whoprofits.org//writable/uploads/publications/1668628326_d431e6ac8c4db6e661ba.pdf, pp.
60, 72.
160 www.hanson-israel.com/Projects.
161 https://kwri.kw.com/press/keller-williams-expands-into-france-israel-monaco-nicaragua-and-poland/ .
162 www.madlan.co.il/madad-search/‫ישראל‬-‫עילית‬-‫מודיעין‬.
163 https://homeinisrael.com/en/.
164 www.facebook.com/darren.rich.3/posts/10232240860188009; www.linkedin.com/posts/darren-rich-
81588551_dont-miss-out-on-our-israel-real-estate-activity-7167770842209226752-77iU/ .
165
www.myisraelhome.com/new-project;
www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1057208702869865&id=100057422350945&ref=em
bed_post; www.lustigman.co.il/har-homa; www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/4069.
166 https://x.com/yoavgallant/status/1711335592942875097 .
167 A/HRC/55/73, paras. 35-45, 93; A/79/384 paras. 63, 81.b;
www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/8668/2024/en/, pp. 123-201.

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grip on resources in the West Bank – tightened after October 2023 – cannot be viewed in
isolation from the destruction unfolding in Gaza.168
Water
55. Israel forces Palestinians to purchase water sourced from two major aquifers in their
own territory, at inflated prices and with intermittent supply. 169 The Israeli national water
company Mekorot has a water monopoly in the occupied Palestinian territory. 170 In Gaza,
more than 97 percent of water from a coastal aquifer is contaminated, making residents
dependent on Mekorot pipelines for most of their drinking water. 171 For at least the first six
months post-October 2023, Mekorot ran its Gaza pipelines at 22 percent capacity, leaving
areas such as Gaza City without water 95 percent of the time, 172 actively aiding the
transformation of water into a tool of genocide. 173
Electricity, gas and fuel
56. International energy companies have fuelled Israel’s energy-intensive genocide.
Reliant on fuel and coal imports,174 Israel maintains an integrated energy infrastructure
serving both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, seamlessly powering illegal settlers
while controlling and obstructing Palestinian access.175 Gaza’s power plant provided just 17
percent of Gaza’s electricity, leaving it heavily reliant on fuel for generators and Israeli
supply lines.176 Since October 2023, Israel has cut energy to most of Gaza. 177 Without
electricity or fuel, most water pumps,178 hospitals179 and transport reached the brink of total
collapse;180 sewage overflows caused polio to resurge;181 vital desalination plants were forced
to shut down.182
57. Drummond Company Inc. and Swiss Glencore plc are the primary suppliers of coal
for electricity to Israel, originating primarily from Colombia (i.e., 60 per cent of Israel’s
imports in 2023).183 Their respective subsidiaries own the mines and the three ports that have

168 A/79/384, paras. 24-34, 59, 67.

169 www.juragentium.org/topics/palestin/en/water.pdf;
www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/11/the-occupation-of-water/
www.alhaq.org/cached_uploads/download/2022/12/12/al-haq-report-2-1670826325.pdf.
170 www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/165;
www.alhaq.org/cached_uploads/download/alhaq_files/publications/Water-For-One-People-Only.pdf .
171 www.alhaq.org/cached_uploads/download/2022/12/12/al-haq-report-2-1670826325.pdf, pp. 15-16;
www.pcbs.gov.ps/post.aspx?lang=en&ItemID=5946.
172 https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/water-war-crimes-how-israel-has-weaponised-water-in-
its-military-campaign-in-ga-621609/ pp. 5, 15-16.
173 www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media_2024/12/gaza1224web.pdf;
www.alhaq.org/advocacy/26121.html .
174 www.iea.org/countries/israel/electricity .
175
www.somo.nl/powering-injustice, pp. 3-4, 13; UNCTAD/GDS/APP/2019/2.
176
www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2014_2019/documents/dpal/dv/background_note_hala/backgro
und_note_halaen.pdf .
177 www.ochaopt.org/page/gaza-strip-electricity-supply .
178 www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-7;
www.hrw.org/report/2024/12/19/extermination-and-acts-genocide/israel-deliberately-depriving-
palestinians-gaza .
179 www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-situation-update-290-gaza-strip;
www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/gaza-hundreds-patients-including-newborns-risk-multiple-
hospitals-run-low-fuel
180 www.actionaidusa.org/news/because-there-is-no-fuel-a-lot-of-our-services-are-affected-fuel-
shortages-push-hospitals-in-gaza-to-the-brink-of-collapse-with-people-facing-dehydration-disease-
and-starvatio/ .
181
Samer Abuzerr, et al., “Resurgence of polio during Gaza conflict”, East Mediterranean Health
Journal, vol. 31, No. 2 (2025), pp. 136–137.
182 www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/03/israels-decision-to-cut-off-electricity-supply-to-gaza-
desalination-plant-cruel-and-unlawful/; www.unocha.org/publications/report/occupied-palestinian-
territory/gaza-humanitarian-response-update-24-june-7-july-2024;
183 www.somo.nl/powering-injustice/, p. 28.

15
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delivered 15 coal shipments to Israel since October 2023,184 including six shipments after
Colombia suspended coal exports to Israel in August 2024.185 Glencore was also involved in
shipments from South Africa,186 which accounted for 15 per cent of Israeli coal imports in
2023 and continuing in 2024.187
58. US Chevron Corporation, in consortium with Israeli NewMedEnergy (a subsidiary of
UN Database-listed Delek Group), extracts natural gas from the Leviathan and Tamar
fields,188 paying the Israeli government $453 million in royalties and taxes in 2023.189
Chevron’s consortium supplies more than 70 per cent of Israeli domestic natural gas
consumption.190 Chevron also profits from its part-ownership of the East Mediterranean Gas
(EMG) pipeline, which passes through Palestinian maritime territory, 191 and from gas export
sales to Egypt and Jordan. 192 The Gaza naval blockade is connected to Israel securing the
Tamar gas supply and EMG pipeline.193 At a time of increasing brutality, British BP p.l.c. is
expanding involvement in the Israeli economy, with exploration licences confirmed in March
2025, which allow BP to explore Palestinian maritime expanses illegally exploited by
Israel.194
59. BP and Chevron are also the largest contributors to Israeli imports of crude oil, as the
major owners of the strategic Azeri Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline195 and the Kazakh Caspian
Pipeline Consortium196 respectively, as well as their associated oil fields. 197 Each
conglomerate effectively supplied eight per cent of Israeli crude oil since October 2023, 198
supplemented by crude oil shipments from Brazilian oil fields, in which Petrobras holds the
largest stakes,199 and military jet fuel. 200 Oil from these companies supplies two refineries in
Israel. From Haifa Refinery, two United Nations Database-listed companies supply their
petrol stations throughout Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, including the
colonies,201 and the military via government-awarded contract. 202 From Ashdod Refinery, a

184 Drummond: https://drummondco.com/our-products/coal/mines; www.puertonuevo.com.co/en/;

Glencore: www.cerrejon.com/en/our-operation; Submission to OHCHR
185 Decreto 1047 (14 August 2024), “por el cual se establece una prohibición a las exportaciones”
www.mincit.gov.co/normatividad/decretos/2024/decreto-1047-del-14-de-agosto-de-2024 .
186 www.glencore.com/south-africa/who-are-we .
187 www.somo.nl/powering-injustice/; p. 29; https://rbct.co.za/who-we-are/
www.passblue.com/2025/04/21/coal-from-south-africa-keeps-flowing-to-israel-despite-the-icj-
genocide-case/ .
188 https://israel.chevron.com/en/our-businesses .
189 www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/93410/000009341024000050/cvx-20231231.htm .
190 https://israel.chevron.com/en/our-businesses;
www.gov.il/BlobFolder/generalpage/dochmeshek/he/Files_doch_meshek_hashmal_2023_24_en_Pua
_Report.pdf, p. 27.
191 www.chevron.com/newsroom/2023/q2/dormant-natural-gas-station-roars-back-to-life
https://afsc.org/chevron-fuels-israeli-apartheid-and-war-crimes .
192 www.reuters.com/business/energy/israeli-natural-gas-exports-egypt-jordan-up-134-2024-
2025-03-05/ .
193
www.somo.nl/beneath-troubled-waters/, pp. 7-9;
www.alhaq.org/cached_uploads/download/alhaq_files/publications/Annexing.Energy.pdf, pp. 49-57.
194 Submission (2.17); www.offshore-technology.com/news/israel-awards-exploration-licences-to-bp-
socar-newmed.
195 www.bp.com/en_az/azerbaijan/home/who-we-are/operationsprojects/pipelines/btc.html .
196 www.cpc.ru/en/about/Pages/shareholders.aspx .
197 https://oilchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/behind-the-barrel-august-2024-v3.pdf, pp. 5-6.
198 https://oilchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/behind-the-barrel-august-2024-v3.pdf; pp. 2, 4-5,
9.
199 https://docs.datadesk.eco/public/976ce7dcf00743dc/; www.offshore-energy.biz/petrobras-cleared-to-
combine-two-offshore-fields-after-7-years/; www.offshore-technology.com/projects/guaraoilfield/;
www.offshore-technology.com/projects/tupi-oilfield/; www.offshore-technology.com/marketdata/oil-
gas-field-profile-iracema-norte-conventional-oil-field-brazil/; www.offshore-
technology.com/projects/buzios-formerly-franco-field-cesso-onerosa-region-santos-basin/.
200 www.somo.nl/fuelling-the-flamesin-gaza/; www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/012/2009/en/ .
201 www.sonolenergy.com/Terminal_and_Pipelines; https://web.archive.org/web/20221206013634/;
https://ir.delek-group.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Delek-Group-2020-Annual-Report.pdf, pp.
A278-282; https://docs.datadesk.eco/public/976ce7dcf00743dc/.
202 https://www.idf.il/‫דלקן‬-‫צבאי‬-‫רכב‬-‫צהל‬-‫דלק‬-‫תחנות‬/‫קבע‬-‫שירות‬/‫ל‬-‫בצה‬-‫השירות‬-‫סוגי‬/‫שלי‬-‫השירות‬/.

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subsidiary of UN Database-listed company Paz Retail and Energy Ltd provides jet fuel to the
Israeli Air Force operating in Gaza. 203
60. By supplying Israel with coal, gas, oil and fuel, companies are contributing to civilian
infrastructures that Israel uses to entrench permanent annexation and weaponises in the
destruction of Palestinian life. The same infrastructure services the Israeli military while it
obliterates Gaza, including the network supplying the resources that these companies have
provided.204 The ostensibly civilian nature of such infrastructure does not exonerate a
company of responsibility.205
Trading the fruits of illegality
Agribusiness
61. Agribusiness has thrived on Israel-led extractivism and land-grabbing – producing
goods and technologies serving Israeli settler-colonial interests, expanding market
dominance and attracting global investment – while erasing Palestinian food systems and
accelerating displacement.206
62. Tnuva, Israel’s largest food conglomerate, now majority-owned by Chinese Bright
Dairy & Food Co. Ltd, 207 has fuelled and benefitted from land dispossession. Tnuva’s
chairman recognized that “agriculture … in general and dairy farming in particular are a
strategic resource and a significant pillar in the settlement enterprise”. 208 Israel has used
Kibbutzim and agricultural outposts to seize Palestinian land and replace Palestinians.209
Companies like Tnuva help by sourcing products from these colonies,210 then exploit the
resulting captive Palestinian market211 to build market dominance.212 Palestinian dependence
on the Israeli dairy industry has increased 160 percent in the decade following Israel’s
estimated $43 million destruction of Gaza’s dairy industry in 2014. 213 Tnuva has absorbed
the loss of the Gaza market,214 failing to use its substantial leverage to influence the situation.
63. Netafim, a global leader in drip irrigation technology, now 80 percent owned by
Mexico’s Orbia Advance Corporation,215 has designed its agri-tech in concert with Israel’s

203 www.somo.nl/powering-injustice/ p. 17; https://corporatecms.paz.co.il/media/zdhljnz1/2024-annual-

report-paz-retail-and-energy-ltd.pdf;
https://paz.co.il/Uploads/investortools/ENGLISH/financeEng/2023/QR3-
2023/PAZ%20OIL%20COMPANY%20LTD%20Q3.2023.pdf, p. B-3.
204 https://media.un.org/unifeed/en/asset/d333/d3334996 .
205 E.g. https://londonminingnetwork.org/2024/06/glencore-showing-improvement-in-self-presentation/ .
206 Timothy Seidel, “Settler colonialism and land-based struggle in Palestine: Toward a decolonial
political economy" in Alaa Tartir, Political Economy of Palestine, pp. 81-107; Nahla Abdo, “Colonial
Capitalism and Agrarian Social Structure: Palestine: A Case Study”, Economic and Political Weekly,
vol. 26, No. 30 (1991).
207
www.fbclawyers.com/news/sale-of-control-stake-in-tnuva-to-bright-food-completed/.
208 www.tnuva.co.il/news/‫הרפתנים‬-‫קרן‬-‫להקמת‬-‫שנה‬-‫מסכמת‬-‫תנובה‬/;
www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/bjekvgukc.
209 https://badil.org/phocadownloadpap/badil-new/publications/research/in-focus/EtzionBloc-
IsraeliAnnexation.pdf, pp. 35–37, 39, 60–61;
https://badil.org/phocadownload/Badil_docs/publications/handbook2013eng.pdf.
210 A/70/406, p. 9; www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/399.4
211 https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/1cf6af5c-e6a0-415f-b1dc-
c54abbe300ba/content.
212 www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-799407; www.statista.com/statistics/1546219/israel-top-fmcg-
suppliers-by-market-share/ .
213 https://tradingeconomics.com/palestine/imports/dairy-products-eggs-honey-edible-products;
www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/gazas-food-crisis-began-long-israel-hamas-conflict; https://oi-
files-d8-prod.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/file_attachments/bn-dairy-sector-gaza-strip-
190117-en.pdf .
214 www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-799407 .
215 www.orbia.com/493a04/siteassets/5.-investor-relations/annual-general-meetings/2024/en/punto-1.2-
consolidated-audited-fs-2023-english.pdf, p. 41.

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expansion imperatives.216 While maintaining a global image of sustainability,217 Netafim

technology has enabled intensive exploitation of water and land in the West Bank,218 further
depleting Palestinian natural resources, while being refined in collaboration with Israeli
military-tech firms.219 In the Jordan Valley, Netafim-aided irrigation systems have facilitated
Israeli crop expansion, while Palestinian farmers – denied water and with 93 per cent
unirrigated land220 – are pushed out, unable to compete with Israeli production.221
Furthermore, such irrigation techniques threaten to exhaust the Jordan River and Dead Sea.222
64. Companies such as Tnuva and Netafim continue to manufacture food security for
Israelis,223 while the food system to which they belong causes food insecurity – and even
famine – for others. Netafim brands itself as a sustainable innovator, while perfecting age-
old techniques of colonial exploitation.
Global retail
65. Israeli products, including those from colonies, flood global markets via major
retailers,224 often with no scrutiny. To dodge growing backlash, companies mask origin
through misleading labels, barcodes and supply chain mixing, effectively making occupation
shelf-ready.225
66. Global logistics giants like A.P. Moller – Maersk A/S are integral to this ecosystem,
shipping goods from illegal settlements and UN database-listed companies straight to the
US226 and other markets.
67. In many countries, no distinction is made between products from Israel and those from
its colonies. Even in the EU, where labeling is required,227 these goods are still allowed on
the market, the responsibility put on uninformed consumers.228 Given the illegality of the
colonies under international law, these products should not be traded at all.

216 www.whoprofits.org/writable/uploads/publications/1668633368_b1cc7601fe5ac87a92b9.pdf .
217 S.S. Hughes, et. al., “Greenwashing in Palestine/Israel: Settler colonialism and environmental
injustice in the age of climate catastrophe”, Environment and Planning E, vol. 6, No. 1 (2022), pp.
495-513; www.gov.il/BlobFolder/generalpage/facts-about-israel-
2018/en/English_ABOUT_ISRAEL_PDF_Water.pdf .
218 Submission (4.4), p. 9.
219 https://israelagri.com/netbeat-the-first-irrigation-system-with-a-brain/ .
220 UNCTAD TD/B/64/4 (2017), p. 4.
221 https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/1cf6af5c-e6a0-415f-b1dc-
c54abbe300ba/content; p. 42. www.whoprofits.org//writable/uploads/old/uploads/2020/03/Netafim-
Final.pdf, pp. 2-3; www.alhaq.org/cached_uploads/download/2022/12/12/al-haq-report-2-
1670826325.pdf, p.38.
222
www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-04-15/the-dead-sea-is-dying-drinking-water-is-scarce-
jordan-faces-a-climate-crisis .
223 www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/bjekvgukc .
224 https://www.alhaq.org/cached_uploads/download/alhaq_files/publications/Feasting-on-the-
occupation.pdf; https://www.icjpalestine.com/2024/12/13/as-supermarkets-gear-up-for-christmas-
windfall-icjp-calls-on-the-government-to-review-supermarkets-complicity-in-illegal-israeli-
settlement-trade/; https://www.somo.nl/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/What-do-we-know-about-the-
products-from-Dutch-supermarkets.pdf .
225 https://eumep.org/wp-content/uploads/EuMEP_research_settlement_product_origin_v2.pdf;
Submission (3.4.1); www.qcea.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/bp-eusettlementtrade-version2-en-
aug-2012.pdf .
226 www.maersk.com/local-information/europe/israel
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/664aed65d320123f2b3ab647/t/6791e493ef0cd438e6e6b314/173
7614484665/PYM-Maersk-SettlementExports-Report-01222025.pdf .
227 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52015XC1112(01); https://taxation-
customs.ec.europa.eu/eu-israel-technical-arrangement_en;
https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2019-11/cp190140en.pdf .
228 www.amnesty.eu/news/israel-opt-ban-eu-trade-and-business-with-israels-illegal-settlements-in-the-
occupied-palestinian-territory/ .

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68. Supermarket chains,229 including many listed on the UN Database, and e-commerce
platforms like Amazon.com230 operate directly in colonies, sustaining their economy,
enabling expansion and participating in apartheid through discriminatory service delivery.
Occupation Tourism
69. Major online travel platforms used by millions to e-reserve accommodation, profit
from the occupation by selling tourism that sustains the colonies, excludes Palestinians,
promotes settler narratives and legitimizes annexation.
70. Booking Holdings Inc. and Airbnb, Inc. let properties and hotel rooms in Israeli
colonies. Booking.com has more than doubled its listings – from 26 in 2018231 to 70 by May
2023232 – and tripled its east Jerusalem listings to 39 in the year post-October 2023. 233 Airbnb
has also amplified its colonial profiteering, growing from 139 listings in 2016234 to 350 in
2025,235 collecting up to 23 percent commission.236 These listings are linked with restricting
Palestinian access to land and endangering nearby villages.237 In Tekoa, Airbnb enables
settler promotion of a “warm and loving community,”238 whitewashing settler violence
against the neighbouring Palestinian village of Tuqu’.239
71. Booking.com and Airbnb have been on the UN Database since 2020. Booking.com
may label properties as “Palestinian territory, Israeli settlement”, but it continues to profit
from the colonies and faces criminal complaints in the Netherlands for laundering
proceeds.240 Airbnb briefly delisted illegal colony properties in 2018241 but reversed course
under pressure,242 now donating profits to “humanitarian” causes and converting colonial
profiteering into humanitarian-washing.243

C. Enablers

72. A list of enablers – financial, research, legal, consulting, media and advertising
firms244 – long involved in sustaining the settler-colonial occupation through knowledge,
narratives, skills and investment, have continued to support, profit from and normalize an
economy operating in genocidal mode. This section focuses just on two key enablers: the
financial and academic sectors.
Financing the violations
73. The financial sector channels critical funding to both State and corporate actors behind
Israel’s occupation and apartheid, despite many companies in the sector committing to the
Principles for Responsible Investment245 and the United Nations Global Compact.246

229 www.carrefour.com/sites/default/files/2022-03/Press%20release%20-
%20Carrefour%2C%20in%20Partnership%20with%20Electra%20Consumer%20Products.pdf .
230 www.timesofisrael.com/amazon-delivering-for-free-to-settlements-but-not-to-palestinians-report/ .
231 www.hrw.org/report/2018/11/20/bed-and-breakfast-stolen-land/tourist-rental-listings-west-bank-
settlements.
232
www.somo.nl/booking-com-accused-of-laundering-profits-from-israeli-war-crimes-in-palestine/.
233 www.somo.nl/additional-evidence-filed-against-booking-com-for-profiting-from-illegal-settlements/
234 www.hrw.org/report/2018/11/20/bed-and-breakfast-stolen-land/tourist-rental-listings-west-bank-
settlements
235 www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2025/feb/27/seized-settled-let-how-airbnb-and-
bookingcom-help-israelis-make-money-from-stolen-palestinian-land.
236 https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1857.
237 www.alhaq.org/FAI-Unit/25389.html.
238 www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/686717213082897272 .
239 www.nytimes.com/2024/06/01/world/middleeast/west-bank-settlers-land-tuqu-takoa.html; A/79/347.
240 www.somo.nl/booking-com-accused-of-laundering-profits-from-israeli-war-crimes-in-palestine/;
https://elsc.support/news/booking-com-sued-for-profits-from-israeli-war-crimes-in-palestine.
241
https://news.airbnb.com/listings-in-disputed-regions/ .
242 www.timesofisrael.com/us-jews-sue-airbnb-for-delisting-rentals-at-west-bank-settlements/ ..
243 https://news.airbnb.com/update-listings-disputed-regions/;
244 e.g. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/06/03/gaza-humanitarian-fund-bcg/
245 www.unpri.org/about-us/what-are-the-principles-for-responsible-investment .
246 https://unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/mission/principles .

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74. As the main source of finance for Israel’s State budget, treasury bonds have played a
critical role in funding the ongoing assault on Gaza. From 2022 to 2024, the Israeli military
budget grew from 4.2 per cent to 8.3 per cent of GDP, driving the public budget into a 6.8
per cent deficit.247 Israel funded this ballooning budget by increasing its bond issuance,
including $8 billion in March 2024248 and $5 billion in February 2025,249 alongside issuances
on its domestic shekel market.250 Some of the world’s largest banks, including BNP Paribas251
and Barclays,252 stepped in to boost market confidence by underwriting these international
and domestic treasury bonds, allowing Israel to contain the interest rate premium, despite a
credit downgrade.253 Asset management firms – including Blackrock ($68 million),
Vanguard ($546 million) and Allianz’s asset management subsidiary PIMCO ($960
million)254 – were among at least 400 investors from 36 countries who purchased them.255
Meanwhile, the Development Corporation for Israel (DCI) (i.e., Israel Bonds) 256 provides a
bond solicitation service for the Israeli government for overseas private individuals and other
investors.257 DCI tripled its annual bond sales to funnel nearly $5 billion to Israel since
October 2023,258 while offering investors the option of sending the return on bond
investments into charitable organizations supporting the Israeli military 259 and the
colonies.260
75. These financial entities channel billions of dollars into treasury bonds and companies
directly involved in Israel’s occupation and genocide. Blackrock (and its subsidiary,
iShares261) and Vanguard are among the largest institutional investors in many companies,
holding these shares for distribution among their indexes of mutual funds and electronically
traded funds (ETFs). Blackrock is the second largest institutional investor in Palantir (8.6 per
cent), Microsoft (7.8 per cent), Amazon.com (6.6 per cent), Alphabet (6.6 per cent) and IBM
(8.6 per cent), and third largest in Lockheed Martin (7.2 per cent) and Caterpillar (7.5 per
cent); Vanguard is the largest institutional investor in Caterpillar (9.8 per cent), Chevron (8.9
per cent) and Palantir (9.1 per cent), and second largest in Lockheed Martin (9.2 per cent)
and Elbit Systems (2.0 per cent). 262 Through their asset management, while implicating
universities, pension funds and ordinary people who passively invest their savings through

247 https://boi.org.il/media/3gpniqjj/chap-6-2024.pdf p. 133.

248 www.gov.il/en/pages/press_06032024;
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/52749/000110465924031445/tm247783-2_424b5.htm .
249 www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/52749/000110465925012805/tm255845-2_424b5.htm
www.banktrack.org/news/seven_underwriters_of_war_bonds_instrumental_in_enabling_israel_s_ass
ault_on_gaza_new_research_finds .
250 www.gov.il/en/departments/topics/subsubject-local-debt/govil-landing-page .
251 www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/52749/000110465924031445/tm247783-2_424b5.htm;
www.gov.il/en/pages/press_06032024 .
252 www.gov.il/BlobFolder/dynamiccollectorresultitem/pd-ranking-2025/en/files-eng_Primary-Dealers-
Ranking_RankingPDs2025-1.pdf .
253 www.ft.com/content/90cb26d2-fff5-43d7-a847-d61a751478fa; www.reuters.com/world/middle-
east/moodys-cuts-israels-rating-warns-drop-junk-2024-09-27/;
www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/research/articles/231024-research-update-israel-outlook-revised-to-
negative-on-geopolitical-risks-aa-ratings-affirmed-12892616; https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-fiitch-
cuts-israels-credit-rating-with-negative-outlook-1001486569.
254 www.banktrack.org/news/seven_underwriters_of_war_bonds_instrumental_in_enabling_israel_s_
assault_on_gaza_new_research_finds .
255 www.gov.il/en/pages/press_06032024 .
256 DCI (USA): www.israelbonds.com/About-Us/Sales-Offices.aspx;
www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/52749/000110465925018872/tm257868d1_fwp.htm; DCI
(Europe): https://israelbondsintl.com/contact-us-en/;
https://israelbondsintl.com/pdf/2024InformationMemorandum.pdf .
257 https://brokercheck.finra.org/firm/summary/11148; https://littlesis.org/news/u-s-state-and-local-
treasuries-hold-at-least-1-6-billion-in-israel-bonds/ www.dropsitenews.com/p/israel-bonds-biden-
gaza-moodys .
258
https://israelbonds.com/; https://israelbondsintl.com/official-
doc/Final_Terms_Registered_Bonds.pdf#page=7 p. 14.
259 www.fidf.org/donate/ .
260 www.israelbonds.com/PDFs/OrgsforDonationsList.aspx.
261 www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1364742/000119312511050218/dex211.htm .
262 As at 13 May 2025, https://finance.yahoo.com/ .

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the purchase of their funds and ETFs.263 For their investment decisions, these companies
often rely on benchmark indices, such as FTSE All-World ex-US, J.P. MORGAN $ EM
CORP BOND UCITS and MSCI ACWI UCITS,264 which are developed by financial services
firms.
76. Global insurance companies, including Allianz and AXA, also invest large sums in
shares and bonds implicated in the occupation and genocide, partly as capital reserves for
policyholder claims and regulatory requirements, but primarily to generate returns. Allianz
holds at least $7.3 billion265 and AXA, despite some divestment decisions,266 still invests at
least $4.09 billion267 in tracked companies named in this report. Their insurance policies also
underwrite the risks other companies necessarily take when operating in Israel and the
occupied Palestinian territory, thus enabling the commission of human rights abuses268 and
“de-risking” their operational environment.269
77. Sovereign wealth and pension funds are also significant financiers. The world’s
largest sovereign wealth fund, the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG),
claims it has the “world’s most comprehensive ethical guidelines”.270 After October 2023,
GPFG increased its investment in Israeli companies by 32 per cent to $1.9 billion. By the end
of 2024, the GPFG had $121.5 billion – 6.9 per cent of its total value – invested in companies
named in this report alone.271 The Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, which manages
CA$473.3 billion ($328.9 billion)272 in pension funds of six million Canadians, has almost
CA$9.6 billion ($6.67 billion) invested in the companies named in this report, 273 despite its
ethical investment and human rights policy.274 In 2023–2024, it almost tripled investment in
Lockheed Martin, quadrupled investment in Caterpillar and increased 10-fold the investment
in HD Hyundai.275
78. The financial sector also allows companies to access funds through loans and by
underwriting their debts so they can sell it on the private bond market. From 2021 to 2023,
BNP Paribas was a top European financier of the weapons industry supplying Israel,
providing $410 million in loans to Leonardo, among others,276 alongside $5.2 billion in loans
and underwriting for United Nations Database-listed companies.277 Similarly, in 2024,
Barclays provided $2 billion in loans and underwriting to United Nations Database-listed
companies,278 $862 million to Lockheed Martin and $228 million to Leonardo.279

263 www.justetf.com/en/ .
264 E.g. https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/etfs/profile/veu .
265 https://13f.info/13f/000095012325004403/compare/000095012325004616;
https://13f.info/13f/000095012325004032/compare/000095012323009998;
https://dontbuyintooccupation.org/dbio-data-2024/;
266 https://actions.eko.org/a/axa-investments-in-israeli-banks-financing-war-crimes .
267 https://13f.info/13f/000089842725000009/compare/000089842723000021;
https://dontbuyintooccupation.org/dbio-data-2024/.
268 https://boycottbloodyinsurance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Ensuring-Genocide-Report.pdf;
www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/55?insuring-dispossession .
269
Consider Elliot Dolan-Evans, Making War Safe for Capitalism (Bristol University Press, forthcoming
2025).
270 www.stortinget.no/no/Hva-skjer-pa-Stortinget/videoarkiv/Arkiv-TV-
sendinger/?meid=11482&del=1&msid=8539 .
271 www.nbim.no/en/investments/all-investments/#/ .
272 https://www.cdpq.com/en/investments.
273 www.cdpq.com/sites/default/files/medias/pdf/en/ra/2024_cdpq_add_information.pdf .
274 www.cdpq.com/en/sir/2024/approach#section-3;
www.cdpq.com/sites/default/files/medias/pdf/en/policy_human_rights.pdf .
275 www.justpeaceadvocates.ca/cdpq-2024-report/2/;
www.cdpq.com/sites/default/files/medias/pdf/en/ra/2024_cdpq_add_information.pdf;
www.cdpq.com/sites/default/files/medias/pdf/en/ra/2023_cdpq_add_information.pdf .
276
https://paxforpeace.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/The-Companies-Arming-Israel-and-Their-
Financiers-June-2024.pdf .
277 https://dontbuyintooccupation.org/dbio-data-2024/ .
278 https://dontbuyintooccupation.org/dbio-data-2024/.
279 https://paxforpeace.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/The-Companies-Arming-Israel-and-Their-
Financiers-June-2024.pdf .

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79. This direct investment is buttressed by the choice of financial advisory companies and
responsible investment associations to not consider human rights violations in the occupied
Palestinian territory in their assessment of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
investing.280 This allows responsible/ethical investment funds to remain ESG compliant
despite investing in Israeli government bonds and in shares of companies involved in
violations in the occupied Palestinian territory.281
80. This entire environment has facilitated a record 179 per cent increase in $-equivalent
equity prices of the companies listed in the Tel Aviv stock exchange since the start of the
assault on Gaza, translating into a $157.9 billion gain.282
81. Faith-based charities have also become key financial enablers of illegal projects,
including in the occupied Palestinian territory, often receiving tax deductions abroad despite
strict regulatory charitable frameworks.283 The Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) and its 20+
affiliates fund settler expansion and military-linked projects.284 Since October 2023,
platforms such as Israel Gives have enabled tax-deductible crowdfunding in 32 countries for
Israeli military units and settlers.285 United States-based Christian Friends of Israeli
Communities,286 Dutch Christians for Israel287 and global affiliates,288 sent over $12.25
million in 2023 289 to various projects that support colonies, including some that train
extremist settlers.290
Knowledge production and violation legitimization
82. In Israel, universities – particularly law schools,291 archaeology292 and Middle Eastern
studies departments293 – contribute to the ideological scaffolding of apartheid, cultivating

280 E.g. www.morningstar.com/company/anti-israel-bias-concerns-progress.

281 E.g. Vanguard ESG Global All Cap UCITS ETF, https://fund-docs.vanguard.com/etf-annual-
report.pdf, pp. 115-135; Vanguard ActiveLife Climate Aware 60-70% Equity Fund,
www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/investments/vanguard-activelife-climate-aware-60-70-equity-fund-a-
gbp-accumulation/portfolio-data .
282 Bloomberg, period 12 October 2023- 22 May 2025.
283 https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/omar.elhaj/viz/PhilanthropicColonialismWorkbook/Dashboa
rd1?publish=yes .
284 https://peacenow.org.il/en/following-kkl-jnf-suit-court-orders-sumarin-family-to-evacuate-their-
home-in-silwan; www.haaretz.com/2005-03-13/ty-article/civil-administration-head-faces-charges-
over-land-fraud/0000017f-db57-df9c-a17f-ff5f6ddc0000; www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2016-02-
01/ty-article/.premium/probe-almost-all-palestinian-land-deals-for-illegal-outposts-forged/0000017f-
df26-df7c-a5ff-df7e65de0000; https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-
search/-/charity-details/225910; https://jnf.blob.core.windows.net/images/docs/default-
source/pdfs/year-in-review_2024.pdf?sfvrsn=701e626d_4 .
285 https://israelgives.org/amuta/580407211 www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/23/crowdfunding-us-
residents-fund-settlements-west-bank .
286 https://cfoic.com/; www.globalissues.org/news/2010/07/27/6425 .
287 www.christenenvoorisrael.nl/geschiedenis .
288
https://www.c4israel.org/ .
289
CFOIC: $1.2 million
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/412020104/202421349349304957/full; C4I:
over €10 million ($11.05 million) https://prod1-plate-
attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/attachments/b272dc5574/Jaarrekening Stichting Christenen voor
Israël 2023.pdf, p. 22 .
290 www.platform-investico.nl/onderzoeken/dutch-christians-funding-israel-s-settler-movement;
https://nltimes.nl/2025/03/25/dutch-foundation-offers-buy-weapons-illegal-israeli-settlers-dutch-
donations; www.groene.nl/artikel/cameras-pepper-spray-and-guns .
291 https://dawnmena.org/how-israeli-universities-and-legal-scholars-collaborate-with-israels-military/;
www.haaretz.com/2009-03-05/ty-article/protests-as-idf-colonel-who-ruled-for-attacks-on-gaza-
civilians-starts-as-tau-lecturer/0000017f-e9d5-d62c-a1ff-fdff83300000;
https://international.tau.ac.il/court-justice .
292
https://emekshaveh.org/en/tel-tibna; www.haaretz.com/opinion/editorial/2022-08-11/ty-article-
opinion/occupation-archaeology/00000182-8e8c-d68b-a3e2-ff8d3bf40000 .
293 www.haaretz.co.il/news/politics/2019-03-25/ty-article-magazine/.premium/0000017f-eae4-d639-af7f-
ebf7280f0000; www.havatzalot.org/copy-of-2;
https://rector.huji.ac.il/news/%D7%A2%D7%93%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%9F-
%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%98%D7%A3-%D7%90%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9C-2019 .

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State-aligned narratives,294 erasing Palestinian history and justifying occupation practices.295

Meanwhile, science and technology departments serve as research and development hubs for
collaborations between the Israeli military and arms contractors, including Elbit Systems,
IAI, IBM and Lockheed Martin, and so contribute to producing the tools for surveillance,
crowd control, urban warfare, facial recognition and targeted killing , tools that are effectively
tested on Palestinians.296
83. Leading universities, especially from the Global Minority, partner with Israeli
institutions in areas directly harming Palestinians. At MIT, labs conduct weapons and
surveillance research funded by the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD) – the only foreign
military financing MIT research.297 Notable IMOD-projects include drone swarm control298
– a distinct feature of the Israeli assault on Gaza since October 2023 – pursuit algorithms,299
and underwater surveillance.300 From 2019 to 2024, MIT managed a Lockheed Martin Seed
Fund connecting students to teams in Israel.301 From 2017 to 2025, Elbit Systems paid for
membership to MIT’s Industrial Liaison Program, enabling access to research and talent.302
84. The European Commission (EC)’s Horizon Europe programme actively facilitates
collaboration with Israeli institutions, including those complicit in apartheid and genocide.
Since 2014, the EC has granted over €2.12 billion ($2.4 billion) to Israeli entities,303 including
the Ministry of Defense,304 while European academic institutions both benefit from and
reinforce this entanglement. The Technical University of Munich (TUM) receives €198.5
million ($218 million) in EC Horizon funding, 305 including €11.47 million ($12.6 million)
for 22 collaborations with Israeli partners, military and tech firms. 306 TUM and IAI receive
€792,795.75 ($868,416) to co-develop green hydrogen refuelling,307 technology relevant to
IAI military drones used in Gaza.308 TUM partners with IBM Israel – which runs the
discriminatory Israeli Population Registry – on cloud and AI systems, as part of IBM Israel’s

294 https://en.huji.ac.il/Constitution; https://campuscore.ariel.ac.il/wp/au-international/visitor-guide/ .

295 Maya Wind, Tower of Ivory and Steel; e.g. https://besacenter.org/palestinians-hopeless-terror-
declines-hopeful-terrorism-increases/.
296 https://www.elbitsystems.com/blog/where-robots-go-to-play;
https://in.bgu.ac.il/en/bgn/Pages/industry.aspx; https://aerospace.technion.ac.il/academia-industry-
relations/; https://en.huji.ac.il/news/hebrew-university-and-technion-partner-ibm-advance-artificial-
intelligence; https://americansforbgu.org/emc-ibm-and-lockheed-martin-in-silicon-wadi/ .
297 Submission (3.1.17); https://fnl.mit.edu/may-june-2024/no-more-mit-research-for-israels-ministry-of-
defense/; https://archive.org/details/mit-science-for-genocide/page/32/mode/2up, p. 32.
298 https://vpf.mit.edu/sites/default/files/downloads/AuditReport/2023%20MIT%20Uniform%20Guida
nce%20Report.pdf, p. 164; www.cs.technion.ac.il/events/view-event.php?evid=10573;
https://arxiv.org/abs/2212.03298; www.newscientist.com/article/2282656-israel-used-worlds-first-ai-
guided-combat-drone-swarm-in-gaza-attacks/ .
299 https://vpf.mit.edu/sites/default/files/downloads/AuditReport/2023%20MIT%20Uniform%20Gui
dance%20Report.pdf, p.164; https://doi.org/10.1145/2185677.2185739; https://oar.a-
star.edu.sg/communities-collections/articles/19403 .
300 https://archive.org/details/mit-science-for-genocide/page/38/mode/2up?q=pursuit+algorithms, p. 39.
301
https://news.mit.edu/2019/lockheed-martin-mit-misti-seed-fund-0418;
www.palestinechronicle.com/major-divestment-win-students-say-mit-has-cut-ties-with-lockheed-
martin-fund/ .
302 https://ilp.mit.edu/membership; www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/usa-after-six-month-
campaign-mit-cuts-ties-with-israeli-weapons-manufacturer-elbit-systems/ .
303 https://dashboard.tech.ec.europa.eu/qs_digit_dashboard_mt/public/extensions/RTD_BI_public_HE
_Country_Profile/;
https://dashboard.tech.ec.europa.eu/qs_digit_dashboard_mt/public/extensions/RTD_BI_public_Count
ry_Profile/RTD_BI_public_Country_Profile.html?Country=IL;
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-10-2024-001930_EN.html;
304 https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101121288;
305 https://dashboard.tech.ec.europa.eu/qs_digit_dashboard_mt/public/sense/app/dc5f6f40-c9de-4c40-
8648-015d6ff21342/sheet/3bcd6df0-d32a-4593-b4fa-0f9529c8ffb0/state/analysis .
306
https://dashboard.tech.ec.europa.eu/qs_digit_dashboard_mt/public/sense/app/dc5f6f40-c9de-4c40-
8648-015d6ff21342/sheet/3bcd6df0-d32a-4593-b4fa-0f9529c8ffb0/state/analysis;
https://academiccomplicity.eu/germany/en/TUMU .
307 https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101138105 .
308 www.timesofisrael.com/israels-heven-drones-says-its-hydrogen-fueled-flying-robots-are-a-military-
game-changer/ .

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€7.02 million ($7.71 million) Horizon funding.309 TUM also collaborates on a €10.76 million
($11.71 million) project called “seamless urban mobility” that includes the Municipality of
Jerusalem,310 a city entrenching annexation through urban transportation. It is impossible to
disentangle the expertise Israeli partners contribute to these partnerships from that gained and
used in violations to which they are connected.
85. Many universities have upheld ties with Israel despite the post-October 2023
escalation. One of many British examples,311 the University of Edinburgh holds nearly £25.5
million ($31.72 million) (2.5 per cent of its endowment) in four tech giants – Alphabet,
Amazon, Microsoft and IBM – central to Israel’s surveillance apparatus and the ongoing
Gaza destruction.312 With both direct and indexed investments, it ranks among the UK’s most
financially entangled institutions. The University also partners with firms aiding Israeli
military operations, including Leonardo S.p.A. 313 and Ben Gurion University via an AI and
Data Science Lab,314 sharing research that directly links it with assaults on Palestinians.
86. This analysis only scratches the surface of the information received by the Special
Rapporteur, who acknowledges the vital work of students and staff in holding universities to
account. It casts a new light onto global crackdowns on campus protesters: shielding Israel
and protecting institutional financial interests appears a more probable motivation than
fighting alleged antisemitism.315

V. Conclusions
87. While life in Gaza is being obliterated and the West Bank is under escalating
assault, this report shows why Israel’s genocide continues: because it is lucrative for
many. By shedding light on the political economy of an occupation turned genocidal,
the report reveals how the forever-occupation has become the ideal testing ground for
arms manufacturers and Big Tech – providing boundless supply and demand, little
oversight, and zero accountability – while investors and private and public institutions
profit freely. Too many influential corporate entities remain inextricably financially
bound to Israel’s apartheid and militarism.
88. Post-October 2023, when the Israeli defence budget doubled, and at a time of
falling demand, production and consumer confidence, an international network of
corporations has propped up the Israeli economy. Blackrock and Vanguard rank
among the largest investors in arms companies pivotal to Israel's genocidal arsenal.
Major global banks have underwritten Israeli treasury bonds, which have bankrolled
the devastation, and the largest sovereign wealth and pension funds invested public and
private savings in the genocidal economy, all the while claiming to respect ethical
guidelines.
89. Arms companies have turned over near record profits by equipping Israel with
cutting-edge weaponry that has obliterated a virtually defenceless civilian population.
The machinery of global construction equipment giants has been instrumental in razing
Gaza to the ground, preventing the return and reconstitution of Palestinian life.
Extractive energy and mining conglomerates, while providing sources of civilian

309 https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101086248 .
310 https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101103646 .
311 https://lsepalestine.github.io/documents/LSESUPALESTINE-Assets-in-Apartheid-2024-Web.pdf;
https://bdsatucl.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/UCL-Investment-Report-2024-FINAL.pdf;
https://kclbdsforum.wordpress.com/#:~:text=The%20report%20has%20mapped%20how,committed
%20against%20the%20Palestinian%20people .
312
https://uoe-finance.ed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2025-
03/List%20of%20Investments%202025%2031%20Jan%20.pdf .
313 https://udrc.eng.ed.ac.uk/partners .
314 https://datasciencelab.ise.bgu.ac.il/ .
315 Walaa Alqaisiya and Nicola Perugini, “The academic question of Palestine,” Middle East Critique,
vol. 33, No. 3 (2024), pp. 299–311.

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energy, have fuelled Israel’s military and energy infrastructures – both used to create
conditions of life calculated to destroy the Palestinian people.
90. And while the genocide rages on, the inexorable process of violent annexation
continues. Agribusiness still sustains expansion of the settlement enterprise. The largest
online tourism platforms continue normalizing the illegality of Israeli colonies. Global
supermarkets continue to stock Israeli settlement products. And universities
worldwide, under the guise of research neutrality, continue to profit from an economy
now operating in genocidal mode. Indeed, they are structurally dependent on settler-
colonial collaborations and funding.
91. Business continues as usual, but nothing about this system, in which businesses
are integral, is neutral. The enduring ideological, political and economic engine of racial
capitalism has transformed Israel’s displacement-replacement economy of occupation
into an economy of genocide. This is a “joint criminal enterprise”,316 where the acts of
one ultimately contribute to a whole economy that drives, supplies and enables this
genocide.
92. The entities named in the report constitute a fraction of a much deeper structure
of corporate involvement, profiteering from and enabling violations and crimes in the
occupied Palestinian territory. Had they exercised due diligence, corporate entities
would have ceased involvement with Israel long ago. Today, the demand for
accountability is all the more urgent: any investment sustains a system of serious
international crimes.
93. Business and human rights obligations cannot be isolated from Israel’s illegal
settler-colonial enterprise in the occupied Palestinian territory, which now functions as
a genocidal machine, despite the ICJ having ordered that it be fully and unconditionally
dismantled. Corporate relations with Israel must cease until the occupation and
apartheid end, and reparations are made. The corporate sector, including its executives,
must be held to account, as a necessary step towards ending the genocide and
disassembling the global system of racialized capitalism that underpins it.

VI. Recommendations
94. The Special Rapporteur urges Member States:
(a) To impose sanctions and a full arms embargo on Israel, including all
existing agreements and dual-use items such as technology and civilian heavy
machinery;
(b) To suspend/prevent all trade agreements and investment relations, – and
impose sanctions, including asset freezes, on entities and individuals involved in
activities that may endanger the Palestinians;
(c) To enforce accountability, ensuring that corporate entities face legal
consequences for their involvement in serious violations of international law.
95. The Special Rapporteur urges corporate entities:
(a) To promptly cease all business activities and terminate relationships
directly linked with, contributing to and causing human rights violations and
international crimes against the Palestinian people, in accordance with international
corporate responsibilities and the law of self-determination;
(b) To pay reparations to the Palestinian people, including in the form of an
apartheid wealth tax along the lines of post-Apartheid South Africa.
96. The Special Rapporteur urges the International Criminal Court and national
judiciaries to investigate and prosecute corporate executives and/or corporate entities

316 International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Prosecutor v Karemera et al., Case No. ICTR-98-44-T,
2 February 2012, para 62.

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for their part in the commission of international crimes and laundering of the proceeds
from those crimes.
97. The Special Rapporteur urges the United Nations:
(a) To comply with the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion of
2024;
(b) To include all entities involved in Israeli unlawful occupation in the United
Nations database (to be accessible on the OHCHR website).
98. The Special Rapporteur urges trade Unions, lawyers, civil society and ordinary
citizens to press for boycotts, divestments, sanctions, justice for Palestine and
accountability at international and domestic levels; together we can end these
unspeakable crimes.
99. This report is written at the cusp of a profound and tumultuous transformation.
Globally witnessed atrocities require urgent accountability and justice, which demands
diplomatic, economic, and legal action against those who have maintained and profited
from an economy of occupation turned genocidal. What comes next, depends on all of
us.

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Annex I

Overview of the legal framework governing the legal responsibility of

corporate entities in the occupied Palestinian territory

1. Introduction
1. This annex sets out the international legal framework broadly applicable to the
corporate sector implicated in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). It aims to provide
guidance on the interpretation and application of the legal concepts and factual findings
presented in the main report. Not intended as an exhaustive exposition of international law in
this domain, it presents the broad principles of corporate responsibility, particularly those
applicable where corporate entities317 are implicated in displacing Palestinians from their land
and replacing them with unlawful colonies, contrary to international law. Corporate entities
risk being held responsible for exploitative, abusive and even criminal conduct. Although
corporate responsibility for and criminal complicity in violations was certainly identifiable
in the oPt prior to October 2023, subsequent factual and legal developments could implicate
corporations in unlawful occupation and genocide.

2. Corporate responsibility under international law

2. Corporate responsibility for violations of human rights, international humanitarian
law and crimes under international law is governed by legal instruments at the domestic,
regional and international levels.

3. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) constitute the
normative framework at the international level for the regulation of corporate conduct with
respect to human rights.318 They set out what states and corporate entities need to do in order
to comply with existing obligations under international human rights law, and are already
having a significant impact on national law and policy. Indeed, the UNGPs provide the
normative lens through which corporate conduct can be assessed in order to establish legally
relevant facts in litigation where corporate liability is addressed. They are concerned both
with preventing adverse human rights impacts and ensuring remedial actions are taken where
a corporation’s conduct causes, contributes, or is directly linked to such impacts.319 Crucially,
heightened normative requirements apply in contexts of conflict, occupation and structural
vulnerability, especially where domestic enforcement of international human rights law may
be weak or compromised, rendering international oversight necessary.320

4. Other areas of international law establish specific legal obligations for corporations,
especially international humanitarian law – which is binding on non-State actors involved in
armed conflict321 – and international criminal law, under which individuals such as corporate
executives, and increasingly corporate entities themselves, can be held criminally liable.322
Domestic courts are the primary jurisdiction for the enforcement of corporate responsibility
for human rights violations and international crimes.

2.1. States as the primary duty-bearers

5. International law accords States the primary role of ensuring that corporate entities do
not violate international law and respect human rights, as part of their obligation to respect,
protect and fulfil human rights. Under international human rights law, confirmed by the

317
A/HRC/59/23], para. 5
318
United Nations, Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,
www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/publications/guidingprinciplesbusinesshr_en.pdf
319
UNGP 13
320
UNDP, Heightened Human Rights Due Diligence for Businesses in Conflicted Affect Contexts: A Guide,
www.undp.org/publications/heightened-human-rights-due-diligence-business-conflict-affected-contexts-guide (“UNDP Heighened
HRDD”); UNGP 7 Commentary; OECD, Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct,
www.oecd.org/en/publications/oecd-guidelines-for-multinational-enterprises-on-responsible-business-conduct_81f92357-en.html
(“OECD Guidelines”), para. 43
321
A/75/212 (2020), para 10
322
See Section 2.3

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UNGPs, States may be found in breach of their human rights obligations where they fail to
take appropriate steps to prevent, investigate, punish and redress abuses by private actors
when human rights violations occur.323 States have an obligation to extend this regulation and
oversight to the operations of corporations that occur outside their territory, in accordance
with general extraterritorial human rights obligations. 324

6. Furthermore, under the rules on State responsibility, violations of human rights by

private actors will be attributed to a State where a corporate entity acts on instructions from
or under the control or direction of the State, is empowered by State legislation to exercise
elements of governmental authority or where the State acknowledges and adopts the conduct
as its own.325 Accordingly, the UNGPs require States to take additional steps to protect
against human rights abuse by corporate entities owned, controlled by or receiving substantial
support from the State. 326

2.2. Responsibilities of corporate entities

7. The UNGPs apply to all corporate enterprises, “regardless of their size, sector,
operational context, ownership and structure.”327 The responsibility of corporate entities for
human rights violations and crimes under international law exists independently from that of
States and irrespective of the action States do or do not take to ensure they respect human
rights. Consequently, corporations must respect human rights even if a State where they
operate does not, and they may be held accountable even if they have complied with the
domestic laws where they operate.328 In other words, compliance with domestic laws does
not preclude/is not a defense to responsibility or liability.

8. Corporate entities are obliged both to avoid violating human rights law and to address
human rights violations resulting from their own activities or their business relationships with
others. To achieve this, the UNGPs establish a “continuum of involvement” and associated
responsibilities. These reflect the complexity of corporate structures and economic value
chains, and the fact that the nature of a company’s involvement in a particular human rights
impact may shift over time, so that if it does not take appropriate action, it could move up
that continuum. The activities of a corporate entity and its relationships can be seen as part
of an ecosystem, which may altogether (by perpetrating, facilitating, enabling and/or
profiting) adversely impact human rights, resulting in violations.329

9. A corporate entity’s responsibility depends primarily on whether its activities or

relationships throughout its supply/value chain330 risk, or are in fact:

(a) causing human rights violations331, due to its own activities being essential to the
human rights abuse being able to occur.332
(b) contributing to violations through its own activities – either directly or through
some outside entity (government, business or other). This includes any activity or
relationship where a causal link can be established between the corporate entity’s

323
A/HRC/4/35/Add.1 (2007); UNGP 1-7
324
UNGP 7 Commentary, CCPR, General Comment 31 (2004), para 10; CESCR, General Comment 24 (2017), paras. 25-37;
consider CCPR/C/DEU/CO/6, para. 16
325
Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, Arts 5, 8, 9, 11; CESCR General Comment 24 (2017), para.
11
326
UNGP 4
327
UNGP 14
328
UNGP 23; UNGP 11 Commentary; OECD Guidelines, para. 43; HR/PUB/12/02 (2012), pp. 13-14; https://ipisresearch.be/wp-
content/uploads/2024/06/20240328_Due-diligence-and-corporate-accountability-in-the-arms-value-chain.pdf.
329
UNGP 13; Submission (1.13.a)
330
A/HRC/RES/17/4 (2011); Irene Pietropaoli, “Expert Legal Opinion: the Obligations of Third States and Corporations to Prevent
and Punish Genocide”, 5 June 2024, www.alhaq.org/advocacy/23294.html, p. 38
331
Note: the UNGPs refer to “adverse human rights impact”, this text uses “human rights violations” to reflect the context of the oPt,
where violations and crimes are occurring
332
UNGP 13, Submission (1.13.b) p. 20

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actions and the resulting violation.333 Causality between the entity’s actions and
the resulting abuse will be considered to exist where it has facilitated or enabled
the abuse, created strong incentives for a third party to breach international human
rights law or undertaken activities “in parallel with a third party, leading to
cumulative impacts”.334
(c) directly linked to violations through its operations, products, services or corporate
relationships, although it need not itself be contributing to the abuses.335
10. The UNGPs expect corporate entities to ensure that they are not implicated in human
rights violations by undertaking periodic human rights due diligence (HRDD) to identify
concerns and adjust their conduct.336 Additionally, in situations of armed conflict, occupation
and other instances of widespread violence, corporate entities are expected to engage in
heightened human rights due diligence throughout the period of the conflict.337

11. As part of this heightened process – which is imperative in the oPt – corporate entities
should ask themselves three questions regarding their actions and omissions:

(a) Is there an actual or potential adverse impact on human rights or is the conflict
connected either to the corporate entity’s activities, products or services?
(b) If so, do the corporate entity’s activities increase the risk of that impact?
(c) If so, would the corporate entity’s activities in and of themselves be sufficient to
result in that impact?338
12. In answering these questions, corporate entities must consider:

● Conflict will always create adverse negative human rights impacts, therefore a
corporate entity operating in a conflict will always cause, contribute to or be
directly linked with human rights impacts;
● Corporate activities in a conflict-affected area can never be ‘neutral’; even where
a corporate entity does not take sides in a conflict, its activities will inevitably
affect the conflict dynamics;
● Corporate entities need to respect standards of international humanitarian law and
the obligation to prevent genocide, in addition to human rights.339
13. Based on the above assessment, a corporate entity has particular legal responsibilities:

(a) Where it causes human rights violations (answers “yes” to all three questions), it
has a responsibility to cease the action, and to provide remedies and reparations
for harm caused.340

333
Rachel Davis, “The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and Conflict-Affected Areas: State Obligations and
Business Responsibilities”, Int’l Rev. Red Cross, vol. 94, No. 887, (2012), p. 973; Tara Van Ho, “Defining the Relationships: ‘Cause,
Contribute, and Directly Linked to’ in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights”, Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 43,
No. 4, (November 2021), p. 634; see also Note by the Chair of the Negotiations on the 2011 Revision, Regarding the Terminology on
“Directly Linked”, OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2011 Revision), https://mneguidelines.oecd.org/global-
forum/GFRBC-2014-financial-sector-document-3.pdf.
334
Ibid
335
Irene Pietropaoli, “Expert Legal Opinion”, p. 38.
336
UNGP Commentary to Principles 17 and 19; Tara Van Ho, “Defining the Relationships”, p. 631, John Ruggie, Just Business:
Multinational Corporations and Human Rights (2013), p. 99; Surya Deva, “Mandatory human rights due diligence laws in Europe: A
mirage for rightsholders?”, Leiden Journal of International Law, vol. 36 (2023), 389.
337
UNGP 7; UNDP Heightened HRDD Guide; A/75/212 (2020); A/HRC/17/32 (2011).
338
UNDP Heightened HRDD Guide; p. 26.
339
UNGP 7, 23 Commentary; UNDP Heightened HRDD, p.10; UN, Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes - A tool for
prevention, 2014, www.refworld.org/reference/manuals/un/2014/en/102631 (“Framework for Atrocity Crimes”); A/75/212 (2020),
para. 43; www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Business/OPTStatement6June2014.pdf; See also: T.L. Van Ho and M.K. Alshaleel, “The
Mutual Fund Industry and the Protection of Human Rights” Human Rights Law Review, vol. 18, No. 1 (2018).
340
OHCHR, The Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights: Interpretative Guide, 2017,
www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Publications/HR.PUB.12.2_En.pdf (“OHCHR Interpretative Guide”), p. 5; Tara Van
Ho, “Defining the Relationships”.

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(b) Where it contributes to human rights violations (answers “yes” to questions 1 and
2, “no” to 3), it has a responsibility to take the necessary steps to cease or prevent
its own contribution to human rights violations (including terminating
relationships), to mitigate any remaining impact through its leverage and to
cooperate in the remediation of the harm.341
(c) Where it is directly linked to human rights violations (answers “yes” only to
question 1), it is required to use its leverage, including collaboratively, to prevent
or mitigate the impact on human rights.342 Should that leverage prove ineffective,
it must consider terminating relationships.343 Failure to disengage from a high-risk
context (despite due diligence) will increase a corporate entity’s liability for the
violation.344
14. A crucial and often misunderstood aspect of the framework is that when assessing
corporate actions, it is the material impact of corporate actions on the current and potential
protection of human rights and the conflict-affected context itself that matters,345 and not the
degree of diligence exercised or the degree of negligence.346 In other words, conducting this
due diligence will not absolve a corporate entity of responsibility.347 What matters is the
human rights impacts and the actions taken to avert or address the risk.

15. Correctly identifying the violation in question is therefore crucial. This means
corporate entities must consider whether specific human rights violations may also be
constitutive of more structural and systemic violations of international law. 348 According to
the UNGPs, the severity of the human rights impacts will determine their responsibilities and
the sufficiency of the steps taken to prevent, cease and remedy the serious violations.349 For
example, a corporate entity may be contributing to home demolitions and forced
displacement. However, in a context of settlement expansion, or more structural crimes, the
corporate entity’s actions may also be directly linked to the maintenance of apartheid, racial
discrimination and genocide, or contributing to those violations, when systematic forced
displacement is a constitutive component of these crimes as they unfold. They are also
inherently contributing to the violation of the right to self-determination.

16. Additionally, the complexity of expected HRDD processes and the urgency with
which corporate entities must act is proportional to the scale, scope and irremediability of the
violations occurring.350 In situations where there is clear evidence of ongoing, widespread
human rights violations, the corporate entity must treat the risk of involvement as a legal
compliance issue and, in the most extreme circumstances, cease operations in the State in
question. Heightened HRDD enables corporate entities to anticipate escalations in the
violations, and take the requisite action before those violations materialise.351 Failure to do
so affects the degree of involvement and the extent to which their actions will be considered
sufficient, impacting liability assessments. Thus a corporate entity directly linked to home

341
UNGP 19 Commentary, UNGP 22.
342
UNGP 17 Commentary.
343
UNGP 19 Commentary; OHCHR Interpretative Guide, p. 7.
344
UNGP 19 Commentary; Tara Van Ho, “Defining the Relationships”, p. 635; OHCHR, Response to Request
from BankTrack for Advice Regarding the Application of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in the Context
of the Banking Sector 5 (12 June 2017),
www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Business/InterpretationGuidingPrinciples.pdf, p.7.
345
John Ruggie and John Sherman, “The Concept of ‘Due Diligence’ in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights:
A Reply to Jonathan Bonnitcha and Robert McCorquodale”, The European Journal of International Law, vol. 28, No. 3 (November
2017), pp. 923-924.
346
UNGP 18 and Commentary; Submission (1.5.b); Ruggie and Sherman, “The Concept of Due Diligence’”, p. 924. See David
Bilchitz and Surya Deva, “The human rights obligations of business: a critical framework for the future” in Human Rights
Obligations of Business: Beyond the Corporate Responsibility to Respect (CUP, 2013), p. 11
347
Tara Van Ho, “Defining the Relationships”, p. 631; Surya Deva, “Mandatory human rights due diligence”, pp. 395-396.
348
UNGP 12 Commentary, 14 Commentary
349
UNGP 14; OECD Guidelines, p. 31; Submission 1.3
350
A/75/212 (2020), para. 13.
351
A/75/212 (2020), paras. 19-21; Framework for Atrocity Crimes; UNGP 17 Commentary; OECD Guidelines, paras. 50, 51.

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demolitions and failing to terminate its relationships will find itself contributing to that
violation, carrying greater responsibilities.352

2.3. When responsibility may entail criminal liability

17. Failure to act responsibly in line with international law may implicate corporate
entities in more serious violations giving rise to criminal liability, for the corporate entity
and/or for its executives.

18. Drawn from the legacy of the Industrialists’ trials at Nuremberg,353 corporate
accountability for international crimes is based on a recognition of the critical role the
economy plays in times of war and conflict,354 and the fact that corporate entities may be
involved in heinous violations of international law constituting international crimes.

19. Individual executives can be held criminally liable for the actions of their corporate
entities, including before the International Criminal Court. 355 While, increasingly, corporate
entities themselves, could also face criminal liability as a result of the emerging
crystallization of customary international legal principles.356 This includes some domestic
jurisdictions which attribute criminal liability to corporations,357 and a growing body of
treaties enshrine criminal liability of legal persons, which means that under international law
corporations can be criminally liable for specific crimes, including genocide,358 apartheid,359
financing terrorism, 360 organized crime361 and corruption.362

20. The conduct of corporations and their executives may entail direct criminal liability
but more commonly constitutes complicity or aiding and abetting liability. This may involve
instigating, moral support,363 or abetting, furnishing aid or assistance for or procuring the
means for the commission of a crime364 or the creation of conditions necessary for atrocity
crimes to occur.365 International tribunals have generally found that criminal liability for such
forms of complicity: (a) can be established where the aid or assistance has a material effect

352
UNGP 7, 13, 17, 19, 23 Commentary.
353
Krupp Case (United States of America v. Alfried Krupp), Judgment of 31 July 1948, in Trials of War Criminals before the
Nuremberg Military Tribunals under Control Council Law No. 10, Vol. IX; I.G Farben Case (United States of America v. Carl
Krauch et al.), Judgment of 30 July 1948, in Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals under Control
Council Law No. 10, Vol. VIII.
354
Submission (1.3); Anita Ramasastry, “Corporate Complicity: From Nuremberg to Rangoon - An Examination of Forced Labor
Cases and Their Impact on the Liability of Multinational Corporations” Berkeley Journal of International Law vol. 20, Issue 1, p. 91.
Annika van Baar, “Transnational Holocaust Litigation and Corporate Accountability for Atrocities Beyond Nuremberg” (19 February
2019); Jonathan Kolieb, ‘Through the Looking-Glass: Nuremberg’s Confusing Legacy on Corporate Accountability under
International Law’ American University International Law Review vol. 32, No. 2, (2017), p. 569, 582.
355
Michael Kelly, Prosecuting Corporations for Genocide (OUP, 2016); Submission 1.3; A/75/212, para. 11.
356
International Law Commision, Draft articles on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity, with commentaries,
2019, A/74/10, pp. 81-84, https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/commentaries/7_7_2019.pdf, African Union, Protocol on
Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights, 27 June 2014, art. 46 (not yet in
force); Special Tribunal for Lebanon, New TV S.A.L. Karma Mohamed Tashin Al Khayat, Case No. STL-14-05/PT/AP/AR126.1,
Decision of 2 October 2014; U.S. v. Krauch, et. al, (the I.G. Farben Case), VIII Trials of War Criminals Before the Nuremberg
Military Tribunals, iii-iv (1952); contra UN Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International
Criminal Court, Rome, 15 June-17 July 1998, Official Records, vol. III (A/CONF.183/13), art. 23, para. 6, footnote 71.
357
E.g. Ecuador Código Orgánico Integral Penal, Registro Oficial, Suplemento, Año 1, N° 180, 10 February 2014, art. 90;
www.ipinst.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/businessand_intcrime.pdf
358
Genocide Convention, Article VI; Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
(Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2007, para 420; Michael Kelly, Prosecuting
Corporations for Genocide.
359
International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (1973), art I(2).
360
International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, art. 5
361
UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, art. 10.
362
UN Convention against Corruption, art. 26.
363
International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v Blaškić, Case No. IT-95-14-A, 29 April 2004, paras. 46-47.
364
Prosecutor v. Akayesu, Case No. ICTR-96-4-T, para. 533-538; Prosecutor v. Blagojević, Case No. IT-02-60-T,, para. 777;
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Prosecutor v. Kamuhanda, Case No. ICTR-95-54A-A, Judgment, 22 January 2003,
para. 596.
365
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Prosecutor v Nahimana, Barayagwiza and Ngeze, Case No. ICTR-99-52-T,
Judgment, Summary, 3 December 2003, paras. 973-974.

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on the commission of the crime,366 and (b) depends on the knowledge possessed by the
entity/executive of how its services or activities will be utilised, and the effect on the
commission of the crime.367

21. In other words, it is not necessary to show that the entity or individual intended the
particular harm; it is sufficient that in providing logistical, financial or operational support,
they had actual or constructive knowledge that the principal perpetrators were engaged in a
given crime,368 or, in the case of prosecutions before the ICC, acted “for the purpose of
facilitating the commission of such a crime”.369 Financial and managerial control over a
corporate entity engaged in the crime is sufficient to establish the basis for individual criminal
responsibility.370 Jurisprudence has confirmed that corporate actors cannot avoid
accountability by claiming that they were merely fulfilling commercial contracts.371

2.4. Mechanisms of enforcement

22. This international framework is enforceable via a range of mechanisms – particularly
at the domestic and regional levels – established by States in order to fulfil the legal
obligations outlined in Section 2.1.

23. For many corporate actors a key incentive to uphold practices that respect human
rights is the risk of reputational damage arising from their involvement in human rights
violations and international crimes. The UN Database (see 3.1 below),372 for instance, has
significantly promoted awareness of corporate responsibility in the oPt and contributed to
divestment decisions.

24. An examination of all legislative and policy mechanisms adopted by states is beyond
the scope of this report. In many jurisdictions, corporate violations of jus cogens norms,
customary international law, international criminal law and international human rights law
are enforceable in courts, while in others domestic criminal laws, tortious and negligence
laws, and contract laws provide useful mechanisms for victims. The UNGPs can and should
be consistently used to provide the normative lens to assess corporate conduct and establish
legally relevant facts.

25. Examples of corporate accountability for violations of international law include: in

the UK for toxic emissions from a subsidiary-run copper mine,373 in the Netherlands for the
supply of nerve gas to Iraq,374 in France for payments to armed groups to keep a cement

366
Note: the most common criminal standard requires “a substantial effect” on the commission of the crime: International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Tadic, Case No. IT-94-1-T, 7 May 1997, paras. 688-692; while the ICC does not
set such a high standard, an “effect” is sufficient: International Criminal Court, Prosecutor v. Bemba, Case No. ICC-01/05-01/13,
Trial Judgment Pursuant to Article 72 of the Statute, 19 October 2016, para. 90; International Criminal Court, Prosecutor v. Al
Mahdi, Case No. ICC-01/12-01/15, Decision on the Confirmation of Charges, 24 March 2016, para. 26; See Oona A. Hathaway et al,
“Aiding and Abetting in International Criminal Law”, Cornell Law Review, vol. 104, (2019), pp.1606-1609.
367
International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v Furundzija, Trial Judgment, Case No. IT-95-17/1-T, 10 December
1998, paras. 209, 235; www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Vol.1-Corporate-legal-accountability-thematic-report-2008.pdf, pp.
9, 39-40; Irene Pietropaoli, “Expert Legal Opinion”, pp. 18-19; consider also the Lundin Oil Case before the Swedish District Court,
https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/lundin-petroleum-lawsuit-re-complicity-war-crimes-sudan/.
368
Prosecutor v. Akayesu, Case No. ICTR-96-4-T, para. 541; Prosecutor v. Blagojević, Case No. IT-02-60-T, paras. 384, 777;
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Prosecutor v Ntakirutimana and Ntakirutimana, Case No. ICTR-96-10-A and ICTR-96-
17-A, Appeal Judgement, 13 December 2004, paras. 500-501, 551; see also in the context of state responsibility: Application of the
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro),
Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2007, para 421; William A. Schabas, Genocide in International Law: The Crime of Crimes (CUP, 2009) p.
522.
369
Rome Statute, Article 25(3)(c) (Emphasis added); International Criminal Court, Prosecutor v. Bemba, Case No. ICC-01/05-01/13,
Trial Judgment Pursuant to Article 74 of the Statute, para. 97 (Oct. 19, 2016).
370
International Residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, Prosecutor v Kabuga (Case No. MICT-13-38-PT,
Prosecution’s Second Amended Indictment, 1 March 2021, paras. 9, 25, 30, 34.
371
Trial of Bruno Tesch and Two Others (The Zyklon B Case) (1947) 1 Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals 93 (British Military
Court, Hamburg) pp. 102.
372
A/HRC/RES/31/36 (2016); A/HRC/RES/53/25 (2023); UN Database: www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/regular-
sessions/session31/database-hrc3136.
373
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Vedanta Resources PLC v Lungowe [2019] UKSC 20.
374
District Court of The Hague, Public Prosecutor v. Frans Cornelis Adrianus van Anraat, 23 December 2005,
www.internationalcrimesdatabase.org/Case/178/Van-Anraat/.

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factory running 375 and in Sweden for using the military to secure oil fields in Sudan. 376 In the
US, a civil suit under the Alien Torts Statute, under which US courts can hold American
corporations accountable for “violation[s] of the law of nations”,377 led to settlement with a
US oil company for its complicity in violations in Myanmar.378

26. Where a corporate entity profits from actions that constitute an international crime
(e.g., a war crime, genocide, apartheid or an act of aggression), this may also form the
predicate crime for an offence under money laundering and proceeds of crime legislation that
exists in many domestic jurisdictions,379 which, if successfully proven, can infect all
corporate dealings along the supply chain, such as provision of insurance, tech services, legal
accountancy and banking services.380

27. Domestic human rights due diligence laws now exist in several states, including
France,381 Germany,382 Norway383 and Switzerland,384 and the number can be expected to
increase across EU states following the adoption of the EU Directive on Corporate
Sustainability Due Diligence in July 2024,385 subject to proposed amendments.386 These laws
establish mechanisms for supervision and enforcement through injunctive orders and
effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties.387 They are often complemented by
regulations applicable to particular sectors, such as dual-use cyber-surveillance items,388
forced labour389 and non-financial reporting entities.390

28. The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business

Conduct have opened new opportunities for scrutiny. 391 These require all 51 adhering States,
including Israel,392 to establish National Contact Points (NCPs) to promote the guidelines and
create a non-judicial grievance mechanism allowing NGOs, trade unions, affected individuals
and communities to lodge complaints about the direct operations or supply chains of

375
“Communiques de Presse: Lafarge Poursuivi Pour Financement Presume de Terrorisme” (15 November 2016). Cour de cassation,
[7 September 2021] Pourvoi No. 19-87.036; www.asso-sherpa.org/lafarge-in-syria-french-supreme-court-issues-decisive-ruling-on-
charges-faced-by-the-multinational.
376
www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/lundin-petroleum-lawsuit-re-complicity-war-crimes-sudan/.
377
Alien Torts Statute, 28 US Code, para. 1350; note Supreme Court decisions in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain; Kiobel v. Royal Dutch
Petroleum; Jesner v. Arab Bank and Nestle v. Doe have severely restricted the scope of the Statute in recent years; see Federica
Violi, “Navigating Corporate Accountability in International Economic Law: A Critical Overview”, (2024) in Ioannis Papadopoulos,
et al., (eds), Handbook of Accountability Studies: Politics, Law, Business, Work (Elgar Publishing, forthcoming 2025).
378
Doe v Unocal (hereafter Unocal) https://earthrights.org/case/doe-v-unocal/#timelineff69-1a905f26-f4b6, Wiwa v Royal Dutch
Petroleum Co (Wiwa), Talisman, Bowoto v Chevron (Bowoto), John Does v Exxon Mobil Corp (Exxon Mobil), Rio Tinto, and
Beanal v Freeport-McMoran Inc. (Beanal). 7
379
E.g. Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (UK)
380
Consider World Uyghur Congress v National Crime Agency [2024] EWCA Civ 715.
381
French Duty of Vigilance Act 2017, LOI n° 2017-399 du 27 mars 2017 relative au devoir de vigilance des sociétés mères et des
entreprises donneuses d'ordre.
382
German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chain 2021, Gesetz über die unternehmerischen
Sorgfaltspflichten in Lieferketten, 16 July 2021.
383
Norwegian Transparency Act 2021, Act relating to enterprises' transparency and work on fundamental human rights and decent
working conditions, https://lovdata.no/dokument/NLE/lov/2021-06-18-99.
384
Swiss Due Diligence Act 2021, Nicolas Bueno, “The Swiss Human Rights Due Diligence Legislation: Between Law and
Politics”, Business and Human Rights Journal, vol. 6, No. 3 (2021), pp. 542-549.
385
EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, 2024/1760, (July 2024).
386
www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/eu-ohchr-publishes-commentary-on-omnibus-proposal-warns-that-omnibus-
proposal-risks-backsliding-on-csddd/.
387
https://commission.europa.eu/business-economy-euro/doing-business-eu/sustainability-due-diligence-responsible-
business/corporate-sustainability-due-diligence_en#what-are-the-obligations-for-companies;
www.morganlewis.com/pubs/2024/03/the-first-french-court-rulings-on-the-duty-of-vigilanc.
388
Regulation (EU) 2021/821
389
Regulation (EU) 2024/301
390
e.g.
www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/9d68c55c272c41e99f0bf45d24397d8c/2022.09.05_gpfg_guidelines_observation_exclusion.pdf;
www.ccc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/9.-CCC-Human-Rights-Due-Diligence-Guidelines-Defence-Security.pdf.
391
OECD Guidelines.
392
https://mneguidelines.oecd.org/ncps/israel.htm.

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companies operating in or from an OECD-country,393 and to receive a mediated outcome or

final determination with recommendations.394

29. Where direct remedies are not available against corporate entities, it may be possible
to hold States responsible for failing to comply with their obligations vis-a-vis corporate
entities within their jurisdiction.395

3. Applying the framework to the occupied Palestinian territory

30. In the case of the oPt, corporate entities have been on notice for decades regarding
the widespread and systematic nature of the human rights violations perpetrated there. Proper
human rights due diligence would have identified the risk of corporate entities incurring
responsibility for such violations well before the catastrophic events that have unfolded since
October 2023 – all the more so if the required heightened processes were followed.

3.1. An inherently unlawful context, gradually exposed

31. Since 1967, Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups,396 the United Nations main
organs397 as well as UN treaty bodies,398 special rapporteurs,399 investigative committees400
and major international NGOs – including Human Rights Watch,401 Amnesty International,402
Save the Children403 and Oxfam404 – have systematically documented the Israeli occupation’s
many violations, including the economic structures that sustain it.

32. In its 2004 Advisory Opinion, the ICJ found that Israel’s construction of the Wall in
the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, violated peremptory norms of international law,
including the right to self-determination, the prohibition on annexation and obligations under
international humanitarian and human rights law, including the crime of forced
displacement.405

33. The 2004 Advisory Opinion laid the foundation for civil society responses such as the
BDS campaign406 and initiatives by other actors407 who have mobilized around the principle
that those who profit from occupation should be held accountable. In response to mounting
pressure, as well as internal risk assessments and strategic considerations, several companies
have taken action. Some corporations have divested – for example, KLP from Caterpillar, 408

393
https://mneguidelines.oecd.org/ncps/how-do-ncps-handle-cases.htm.
394
UK National Contact Point, Final Statement: Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights complaint to UK NCP about JCB, Decision,
12 November 2021; Spanish National Contact Point, Final Statement: Comité de Solidaridad de la Causa Árabe (CSCA) & a
company active in the construction sector, 25 May 2022.
395
Ralph Wilde, Legal Opinion, 1 December 2024, https://alhaqeurope.org/wp-
content/uploads/2024/12/ralph_wilde_icj_opt_ao_thirdstateseu_legal_opinion.pdf, paras. 91-94.
396
www.alhaq.org/cached_uploads/download/2025/01/14/punishing-a-nation-1736840036.pdf ;
www.alhaq.org/cached_uploads/download/alhaq_files/publications/Annexation_Wall_english.pdf;
https://badil.org/cached_uploads/view/2021/04/19/wp-e-11-1618822997.pdf; https://badil.org/cached_uploads/view/2021/04/19/icl-
wp12-eng-1618823024.pdf; www.btselem.org/publications/fulltext/202101_this_is_apartheid.
397
UNSC 242 (1967), 338 (1973), S/RES/2334 (2016)
398
CERD/C/113/3
399
A/HRC/49/87 (2022); A/HRC/13/53 (2010)
400
A/HRC/28/79 (2015); A/HRC/50/21 (2022)
401
www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution
402
www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/; www.amnesty.org.uk/files/2018-
09/3.%20Campaign%20Briefing%201%20-
%20Israel%20Palestine%2050%20years%20of%20occupation.pdf?5wqeX6EBe_M50pnGGMDOt1UJj3FPvx6q=.
403
www.un.org/unispal/wp-content/uploads/2003/07/6bb117b13425504685256ea90055c8ab_assessment.pdf;
https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/GS_HumImplosion.pdf.
404
https://oi-files-d8-prod.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/file_attachments/bp104-palestinians-five-years-of-
illegality_4.pdf.
405
Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, 9 July 2004, I.C.J.
Reports 2004, paras. 120-123; 163(3)(D)
406
https://bdsmovement.net/BNC.
407
www.whoprofits.org/; https://afsc.org/; https://dontbuyintooccupation.org/; https://act.progressive.international/watermelon/
408
www.klp.no/en/corporate-responsibility-and-responsible-investments/exclusion-and-dialogue/exclude-caterpillar-inc.pdf.

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Irish Strategic Investment Fund from six Israeli companies 409 and AXA from five Israeli
banks and Elbit Systems410 – or have withdrawn their operations from the Israeli market, as
have Veolia,411 CRH,412 General Mills,413 G4S,414 Yokohama415 and Pret a Manger,416 and
Ben & Jerrys continues to fight to implement its decision to withdraw sales to colonies against
efforts of its parent company Unilever. 417 In the sports sector, sustained advocacy led Adidas,
PUMA, and Erreà to end their sponsorship of the Israel Football Association.418

34. In 2016, the UN Human Rights Council adopted resolution A/HRC/RES/31/36,

pursuant to which the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights established a
database in 2020 (‘UN database’) listing business enterprises that have “directly and
indirectly enabled, facilitated and profited from the construction and growth of the
settlements”, identifying ten specific types of activities.419 Its most recent iteration, updated
in 2023, lists 97 companies.420 While it does not cover the full gamut of relevant activities,
the database captures critical components of the complex matrix of corporate entities
involved in the displacement and replacement of the Palestinians.

3.2. Seismic shift: international court proceedings

35. Recent legal developments concerning the oPt have significantly reshaped the
assessment of corporate responsibility and potential liability.

36. Most significant is the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024, which addressed the
legality of Israel’s very presence in the oPt. The Court declared the prolonged presence of
Israel in the whole of the territory, including its colony regime – composed of its military
presence, settlements, associated infrastructures and control of Palestinian natural
resources421 – as illegal422 in its entirety on the basis of sustained violations of two peremptory
norms of international law: the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people and the
prohibition on the acquisition of territory by force (annexation).423 The Court also recognized,
among others, the violation of the non-derogable norm prohibiting racial segregation and
apartheid.424

37. The ICJ’s finding of a violation of the prohibition on the use of force effectively
qualifies the occupation as an act of aggression.425 Consequently, any dealings that support
or sustain the occupation and its associated apparatus may amount to complicity in an
international crime under the Rome Statute.426 While Israel, as the de facto occupying power,
remains bound by international humanitarian law, the illegality of the occupation means all
administrative and military actions it undertakes in the oPt – from controlling visas, permits

409
www.gov.ie/en/department-of-finance/press-releases/minister-mcgrath-notes-ntma-confirmation-of-divestment-from-certain-
investments-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory/.
410
https://hwkvufmtfxjkrhbrfqkj.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/PUB/AXA_investments_Israeli_banks_report.pdf
411
www.middleeastmonitor.com/20150829-veolia-completes-withdrawal-from-israel-in-victory-for-bds-campaign/
412
www.crh.com/media/1062/dev-strat-update-07012016_2.pdf.
413
www.generalmills.com/news/stories/an-update-on-general-mills-joint-venture-in-israel
414
https://mayafiles.tase.co.il/RHtm/1524001-1525000/H1524391.htm; www.g4s.com/news-and-insights/news/2017/06/29/sale-of-
g4s-secure-solutions-israel-ltd; www.g4s.com/news-and-insights/news/2016/05/23/statement-regarding-the-sale-of-g4s-israel
415
www.y-yokohama.com/release/pdf/2024111414mg004.pdf
416
www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/british-sandwich-chain-pret-abandons-plan-open-israel-2024-06-03/
417
www.unilever.com/news/press-and-media/press-releases/2021/unilever-statement-on-ben-and-jerrys-decision/;
www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/ben-jerry-s-withdraws-sales-israeli-settlements-clashes-parent-company-n1274403;
https://fortune.com/europe/2025/03/19/unilever-oppressiveness-ben-jerrys-ceo-sacked-social-mission/; www.timesofisrael.com/ben-
jerrys-founder-said-looking-to-buy-back-company-from-unilever-amid-israel-spat/
418
www.bdsmovement.net/news/israel-football-association-loses-yet-another-sponsor
419
A/HRC/22/63 (2013) para. 96; A/HRC/RES/31/36 (2016); A/HRC/43/71 (2020).
420
www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session31/database-hrc3136/23-06-30-Update-
israeli-settlement-opt-database-hrc3136.pdf para. 14.
421
Legal Consequences Arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, Advisory Opinion, 19 July 2024, I.C.J. Reports 2024, para. 111.
422
Ibid., paras. 155 and 261–264.
423
Ibid., paras. 173, 179 and 252.
424
Ibid., paras. 223-229.
425
Ibid., paras. 252-258.
426
Rome Statute, Article 8 bis; A/77/356, para. 22.

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and movement, to incarceration and economic regulation – lack lawful authority under
international law and should be considered invalid.427

38. Second, the recognition by the ICJ of the violation of the right to self-
determination in turn informs the interpretation of all human rights and other legal
obligations that flow therefrom. As the Court said, the right to self-determination is the
most fundamental and existential right for all human beings, as it pertains to the inherent
capability of a people to exist and determine themselves as a people in a given territory, free
from foreign control and occupation.428 Without this right, a people are unable to exercise
control over their lives and resources in the territory recognized under international law as
their own.429

39. On the basis of the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion, the UN General Assembly demanded that
Israel bring to an end its unlawful presence in the oPt by 17 September 2025.430 Until that
happens, States must not provide aid or assistance or enter into economic or trade dealings,
and must take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that would assist in maintaining
the illegal situation created by Israel in the oPt.431 It should be emphasized that the failure of
States to act on the ICJ ruling does not absolve corporate entities of their responsibilities
under international law and the UNGPs.

3.3. Atrocity crimes

40. This sustained situation of illegality with impunity, with its associated violations of
international law and international crimes, has predictably given rise to further egregious
violations, amounting to atrocity crimes, committed since October 2023. These have in turn
precipitated the opening by the ICJ and ICC of proceedings concerning Israel: the former
relating to genocide, the latter to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

41. On 26 January 2024, following the South Africa v. Israel proceedings under the
Genocide Convention, the ICJ ordered Israel to take “all measures” within its power to
prevent genocidal acts against Palestinians,432 and in May 2024, the Court ordered Israel to
“immediately halt” military operations that may bring about conditions of life intended to
destroy.433 In separate proceedings, Nicaragua v Germany, the ICJ reminded all States “of
their international obligations relating to the transfer of arms434 to parties to an armed conflict,
in order to avoid the risk that such arms might be used to violate” international law.435

42. By placing States on explicit notice of this risk of genocide, the ICJ orders engaged
the obligation under Article 1 of the Genocide Convention to “prevent and punish” genocide,
thereby exposing all those who continue to aid, abet or assist Israel in committing such acts
to potential international responsibility for complicity in genocide.

43. In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants in the Situation in the State of
Palestine for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav
Gallant, on the basis that there are reasonable grounds to believe that they bear criminal
responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

3.4. Consequences for corporate entities

427
Ralph Wilde, Legal Opinion, para 45.
428
Legal Consequences Arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, Advisory Opinion, 19 July 2024, I.C.J. Reports 202, paras. 230-233; A/77/356 paras. 16-18.
429
A/77/356 (2022) para. 237.
430
A/RES/ES-10/24 (2024), para. 2.
431
Legal Consequences Arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East
Jerusalem, Advisory Opinion, 19 July 2024, I.C.J. Reports 202, paras. 278-279.
432
Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v.
Israel), Order, 26 January 2024, I.C.J. Reports 2024, para. 86(1)
433
Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v.
Israel), Request for the Modification of the Order of 28 March 2024, Order, 24 May 2024, I.C.J. Reports 2024, paras. 29, 57(2)(a).
434
www.un.org/unispal/document/arms-transfers-un-experts-20jun24/
435
Alleged Breaches of Certain International Obligations in Respect of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Nicaragua v. Germany),
Order, 30 April 2024, I.C.J. Reports 2024, paras. 22–24; Legal Consequences Arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, Advisory Opinion, 19 July 2024, I.C.J. Reports 202, para. 285(7).

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44. The above legal developments have significantly reshaped the assessment of
corporate responsibility and potential liability, which must now be interpreted in light of these
orders and decisions of international courts.

45. The scale and severity of violations occurring throughout Israel’s decades-long
military occupation – which has helped entrench a settler-colonial apartheid regime – should
already have alerted corporate actors to their responsibility to avoid causing, contributing to
or being directly linked to ongoing human rights violations, and the possibility that they may
have been complicit in the commission of international crimes, such as by aiding and abetting
and facilitating them. The political economy of Israel’s occupation set out in the report, is
illustrative of the entwinement of all manner of corporate activities with the displacement
and replacement of Palestinians in the oPt. At a minimum, this directly linked these corporate
activities with an entrenched and structural set of violations that almost certainly already
triggered the responsibility of corporate entities to cease engagement linked to the oPt under
the UNGPs, on the basis of their limited capacity to wield influence in order to prevent or
mitigate the adverse impact. But the recent and ongoing ICJ and ICC proceedings have
removed any possible doubt and put corporate entities – whether subsidiaries, parent
companies or direct actors and investors – clearly on notice of the serious risk of being
implicated in very serious violations of international law, including human rights violations
and international crimes, and of their actions having contributed to or become criminally
complicit in these violations and crimes.

46. Israel’s ongoing illegal occupation of the oPt creates an untenable situation for
corporate entities to simply continue business as usual. The finding that the occupation is per
se illegal, and that international crimes, including genocide, and arguably the crime of
aggression, may have been committed, has gone far beyond a “heightened risk” of adverse
human rights impact. The private sector must, in its own interests, urgently reconsider all
engagement connected to Israel’s economy of occupation and now genocide.

47. A consequence of the ICJ Advisory Opinion is a requirement for heightened human
rights due diligence on the part of corporate entities, which must now address the fundamental
illegality at the heart of Israel’s enterprise. They can no longer limit their legal assessments
and mitigation measures to questions of Israel’s specific conduct and whether certain human
rights (e.g., environmental, workers’ or children’s rights or lack of fair trial guarantees) and
humanitarian frameworks are respected.436 For example, the incarceration of thousands of
Palestinians, whether in administrative detention or after being convicted in military courts,
is unlawful due to the lack of legal authority and because it is part of a governance system
using mass incarceration of Palestinians as a tool of systemic repression and forced
displacement, and not merely due to the absence of fair trial guarantees. The Advisory
Opinion also signals that corporate entities must recognize the primacy of the right to self-
determination and its interpretive function in the construction of all other human rights
protections.437 This means Human Rights Policies and Environmental, Social and
Governance (ESG) frameworks cannot continue to overlook the right to self-determination,
which is firmly embedded within human rights law,438 recognized as a foundational right of
all peoples, and the prerequisite to all other rights.439

48. It also means recognizing that any engagement with Palestinians and in the oPt must
comply with their right to self-determination. This supersedes paternalistic justifications
based on the fiduciary obligations of the occupying power under the Fourth Geneva
Convention, and invalidates specious justifications by corporate entities, such as that an
investment through Israel as the occupier can eventually benefit the Palestinians as well, or
that divestment would have adverse human rights impacts.440

436
Ralph Wilde, Legal Opinion, paras. 51-52.
437
CCPR/C/70/D/547/1993, para. 9.2; CCPR/C/124/D/2950/2017, paras. 9.9-9.11; CCPR/C/124/D/2668/2015, paras. 1.4, 2.4, 6.11
438
Common Article 1 of both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
439
A/RES/637(VII); CCPR General Comment No. 12 (1984) para. 1.
440
UNGP Commentary to 19; Tyler Mcreary, “Historicising the encounter between state, corporate and indigenous authorities on
Gitxsan lands” Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice, vol. 33, No. 3, (May 2016), p. 18.

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49. The ICJ Advisory Opinion, endorsed by the UN General Assembly, imposes a prima
facie responsibility on corporate entities to not engage and/or to withdraw totally and
unconditionally from any dealings with any component of the occupation. Where corporate
entities disregard this notice, fail to abide by their responsibilities under the UNGPs and
continue engagement through their activities and relationships with Israel, its economy, its
military and private sector connected to the oPt, they knowingly contribute to or cause
violations, including the denial of the Palestinian right to self-determination, the permanent
annexation of Palestinian territory or the maintenance of Israel's unlawful occupation of
Palestinian territory.

50. Worse, this is a political economy that was always eliminatory and has now turned
into genocidal mode. Confirming this, the ICJ Provisional Measures and ICC Arrest Warrants
signal the risk that corporate entities – and their executives – that engage in the oPt are
implicated in serious international crimes. Any decision to continue engagement in Israel’s
economy is therefore done with knowledge of the crimes that may be taking place, and of the
fact that they may provide material support to Israel to continue to commit those crimes.

51. Corporate entities and their executives can, and indeed must, find themselves liable in
civil or criminal law for such conduct, in addition to the multitude of other crimes and human
rights violations that are part of the economy of occupation. The actions entities and
executives do or do not take in accordance with their responsibilities, vis-a-vis these legal
developments and the UNGPs, have material relevance to key evidential questions that would
arise in the course of determining their civil and/or criminal liability.

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