UN Rights Office Adds 61 Companies to Settlement Business List, Total Reaches 214

The United Nations human rights office released an updated database on Friday listing 61 additional companies with operations tied to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, bringing the total to 214 firms.

The database, first published in 2020, is built from confidential submissions assessed against UN criteria: whether a company supplies demolition equipment used to destroy Palestinian buildings, provides surveillance services for settlements, or offers transport and logistics that help sustain settlement infrastructure. Roughly 60 other companies were reviewed and excluded because they did not meet that threshold.

Among the newly listed firms are Israeli pesticides maker ADAMA, part of the Chinese-owned Syngenta Group, Israeli real estate investment company Alony Hetz, and Spain's Salvat Logistica. None of the three responded to requests for comment reported by The New Arab. They join companies already on the list, including Expedia and Airbnb.

The 214 firms span 11 countries. Most are Israeli, but the list also includes companies based in France, Germany, China and the United States, according to the UN office.

Israel's diplomatic mission rejected the update in a statement issued the same day.

"This is a distorted mechanism - created by a deeply flawed body with an automatic majority against Israel," the mission said, alleging the database was established to "persecute" the country.

Not every company stays on the list once added. British-registered Opodo and Spain's eDreams were both removed after requesting reassessment, with the UN office finding reasonable grounds that they were no longer engaged in the flagged activities. eDreams has said it withdrew settlement-area accommodation listings after some appeared automatically when property owners uploaded them. Expedia has previously said its listings in what it calls "disputed areas" are clearly labeled, comply with international law and sanctions, and undergo enhanced due diligence guided by UN standards.

The database carries practical weight beyond its symbolic listing. Companies named in it can become targets for divestment campaigns and consumer boycotts aimed at pressuring Israel over continued settlement construction in territory home to more than 3 million Palestinians. The West Bank settlements themselves are considered illegal under international law, a position the UN and most governments hold regardless of Israeli objections.

The update lands amid continued settlement expansion under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, which has backed settler construction and outpost growth, particularly since the war in Gaza began in October 2023. Britain, France and Canada moved this month to block imports originating from settlements, part of a broader, if uneven, international effort to draw a line between goods produced in Israel proper and those produced on occupied land.