UN removes 15 companies from database of businesses with ties to Israeli settlements

Most international companies on the original list of 122 still have links to settlers in occupied territories

A building under construction in the occupied West Bank settlement of Ofra, north of Ramallah. EPA

Fifteen companies have been taken off a UN database of firms doing business with Israeli settlements in occupied areas, officials said on Friday.

The UN Human Rights Office said these no longer had ties with settlements. However, most of the international companies on the original list of 122 still remain.

Packaged food maker General Mills was the only international firm removed from the list.

Israel has settlements in areas including the occupied West Bank, occupied East Jerusalem and the occupied Golan Heights.

The international community consider Israeli settlements to be illegal under international law.

This update comes amid surging violence in the West Bank in the past 15 months, including fatal Israeli army raids in cities including Jenin, fatal attacks by Palestinian gunmen against Israeli settlers and rampages by settler mobs in Palestinian villages.

However, the UN list was limited in scope due to budget restrictions and the rights office was only able to review the original list of 112 companies, UN spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said.

There was no immediate comment from Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the previous version, as did Washington which has long protested the “disproportionate attention” given to Israel by the Geneva-based council.

The database was mandated by the UN in 2016 but not released until 2020.

Civil society groups say the database is an important tool to ensure transparency around business activities in the West Bank and to prompt companies to rethink their activities in the occupied territories.

Most of the firms named in the database when it was set up were domiciled in Israel but it also included international firms listed in the US, Britain and France, among others.

International companies that remain on the list include travel sites Booking.com and Expedia and home-rental company Airbnb.

Last Monday, Israel's Civil Administration Higher Planning Committee approved 5,623 new housing units in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.