This came in a joint report titled "Trade with Illegal Settlements: How Foreign States and Companies Enable Israel to Implement Its Illegal Settlement Policy," co-authored by organizations such as the Human Rights Association and Oxfam.
The report emphasized that the continued operations of some foreign companies and institutions within the settlements directly contribute to the worsening humanitarian crisis resulting from the long-term Israeli occupation.
The report highlighted a number of European companies, including the French Carrefour supermarket chain, which it said contribute to supporting the settlement economy by selling their products inside Israel.
He also pointed out that British company JCB equipment is being used to demolish Palestinian homes and destroy their agricultural lands, in addition to being used to build new settlements.
The organizations also accused the British banking group Barclays of financing commercial activities within the settlements, and stated that the German company Siemens is involved in developing transportation infrastructure serving these settlements.
The report called on states, particularly members of the European Union and the United Kingdom, to impose an explicit ban on any commercial or investment activity related to settlements, including the provision of services and financing.
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The report also called for financial institutions to be banned from providing loans to companies involved in projects within the settlements.
This report follows a previous report submitted last July by Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, to the UN Human Rights Council.
Albanese's report, titled "From an Economy of Occupation to an Economy of Genocide," revealed that foreign companies contribute to supporting the Israeli settlement project through the forced displacement of Palestinians and their replacement with settler populations.
The UN rapporteur emphasized that these activities are financed by banks and insurance companies, while tourism platforms, large retail chains, and academic institutions participate in the normalization process. She noted that consumers have the power to hold these companies accountable through their purchasing choices.
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving 64,871 Palestinians dead, 164,610 injured, most of them children and women, hundreds of thousands displaced, and a famine that has claimed the lives of 422 Palestinians, including 145 children.
For decades, Israel has occupied Palestine and territories in Syria and Lebanon, and refuses to withdraw from these territories and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, along the pre-1967 borders.
