UN Expands Database of Businesses Linked to Illegal Israeli Settlements with 61 New Additions

Israeli settlers look out through a metal fence in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, September 19, 2026. The United Nations human rights office has expanded its database concerning businesses involved in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem by adding 61 more companies.

Released on Friday, the UN published an 18-page report detailing the rationale behind the inclusion of these companies after assessing a total of 126 businesses. With these new additions, the database now encompasses 214 businesses headquartered across 11 countries, while five of the 158 companies listed last year were removed during the latest update.

While the majority of the listed businesses are Israeli, others originate from China, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. According to the report, a company must participate in at least one of 10 prohibited activities to qualify for the database. These actions include facilitating the expansion and construction of settlements, supplying identification and surveillance equipment, offering banking services, and providing utilities and related services.

The report specifies that included companies must generally cause, contribute to, or maintain a direct link to negative human rights impacts within the occupied territory. The required standard of proof dictates that reasonable grounds must exist to believe a company is engaging in at least one prohibited activity, a threshold aligned with UN fact-finding bodies that falls below the standard of proof required in criminal courts where guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Following a determination that a firm is participating in prohibited activities, the UN reaches out to the affected companies, giving them a 60-day window to submit clarification, updates, or additional information. The report noted that the UN received responses from 14 companies following this most recent assessment, though the exact number of contacted firms among the 126 reviewed was not specified.

Spanish firm Salvat Logistica and Israeli real estate investment holding company Alony Hetz are among the newly added entities. They join a roster that already includes companies such as travel firms Expedia and TripAdvisor, home-rental platform Airbnb, and telecommunications provider Motorola.

Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law and have faced heightened scrutiny since Israel initiated its genocidal war on Gaza nearly three years ago. In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled Israel's settlements to be "unlawful," stating that Israel must refrain from establishing new settlements in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem while also holding an obligation to withdraw from occupied Palestinian territory as soon as possible, despite the ruling being an advisory opinion rather than a legally binding directive.