On September 26, 2025, the United Nations reignited a long-simmering global debate by adding 68 companies from 11 countries to its controversial blacklist over alleged complicity in violating Palestinian human rights through business activity in Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank. The decision, which brings the total number of firms on the list to 158, has drawn immediate condemnation from Israel and a chorus of international commentary, highlighting the deep divisions surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the role of global business in disputed territories.
The updated blacklist, maintained by the U.N. Human Rights Council, targets companies that the international body says support or profit from the expansion of Israeli settlements, which the majority of the world views as illegal under international law. The companies flagged range from construction material suppliers and earth-moving equipment vendors to those providing security, financial services, travel, and lodging in the settlements. Notably, the list is not legally binding and carries no enforcement mechanism, but it is designed to “name and shame” businesses, applying public pressure in hopes of changing corporate behavior.
Among the newly added firms are German building-materials giant Heidelberg Materials and its subsidiary Hanson Israel, Portuguese rail systems provider Steconfer, and Spanish transportation engineering firm Ineco. High-profile American travel companies Expedia Group, Booking Holdings Inc., and Airbnb, Inc. have also retained their spots on the list. Meanwhile, seven companies were removed this year, including French transportation company Alstom and travel service providers eDreams of Spain and Opodo of Britain. In all, 215 companies were reviewed in this update, with hundreds more potentially facing scrutiny in the future, according to the U.N.
“Businesses working in contexts of conflict have a due diligence responsibility to ensure their activities do not contribute to human rights abuses,” U.N. human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told the Associated Press. “We call on businesses to take appropriate action to address the adverse human rights impacts of their activities.” The U.N. said that all companies were notified of their inclusion and given a right of reply before the list was published.
The origins of the blacklist date back nearly a decade, when the U.N. Human Rights Council passed a resolution mandating the creation of a database to track companies operating in or supporting Israeli settlements. The Council, which lacks legal authority to enforce its measures, has repeatedly stated that the main purpose of the list is to increase transparency and accountability by publicly identifying businesses that might be enabling settlement activity. The list assesses ten types of business activities for inclusion, such as supplying construction materials, earth-moving equipment, surveillance gear, or facilitating travel and lodging within the settlements.
Israel responded with immediate and forceful rejection. “This database is meant to serve as a blacklist against businesses that have committed no wrongdoing,” the Israeli diplomatic mission in Geneva said in a statement. “We call on friends not to yield to this ugly attempt to blacklist Israeli firms.” Israeli officials have long argued that the blacklist unfairly singles out Israel for criticism, despite the existence of numerous territorial disputes worldwide. In the past, Israeli leaders have called the list a “shameful initiative” and a “stain” on the U.N.'s reputation.
Critics of the blacklist, including experts from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, have called it discriminatory and a tool for economic warfare against the Jewish state. “This blacklist is clearly designed to spur boycotts of the listed companies,” said Orde Kittrie, a senior fellow at the organization, warning that such efforts could conflict with U.S. anti-boycott laws. Kittrie also pointed out that the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem are the only disputed territories subject to such a database, raising questions about the U.N.’s motives. “The decision to focus on Israel raises the question of whether the database is really about human rights or rather about hypocritically bashing Israel,” he said.
Many of the companies named on the list have publicly defended their activities. Heidelberg Materials stated via email to the Associated Press that neither it nor Hanson Israel was active in the occupied Palestinian territories, calling their inclusion “not justified.” Steconfer, for its part, described its work on a Jerusalem rail project as “neutral, apolitical” and “strictly limited to improving public transportation for all residents, without discrimination.” Ineco, the Spanish engineering firm, said it had provided technical expertise for projects “strictly within internationally recognised territories” in Israel, and after the escalation of violence in Gaza following the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, had begun a process of disengagement from new contracts in the country.
The blacklist’s release comes at a particularly fraught moment. Israel has recently approved plans to build thousands of new settlement homes and a controversial project that would effectively divide the West Bank in two. Many international observers argue that such moves threaten the viability of a two-state solution, which would see Israel and a future Palestinian state living side by side. The U.N. report noted, “Dividing the territory would leave Israel as a state with a Jewish majority and allow Palestinians to realise their right to self-determination.” Without such a solution, many fear the alternative is a single state where Israelis rule over Palestinians—a scenario likened by some to apartheid.
With more than 500,000 Israelis now living in the West Bank and an additional 200,000 in east Jerusalem, the question of settlements has become central to both the conflict and its possible resolution. Israel maintains that these communities are a natural part of its historical and biblical homeland, and officials have repeatedly said there are no plans to dismantle them. The postwar future of Gaza, which has suffered massive destruction since the outbreak of renewed conflict in October 2023, remains equally uncertain, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruling out the prospect of an independent Palestinian state.
The U.N. Human Rights Council’s blacklist is managed by a single full-time staffer, highlighting the painstaking (and, some would say, Sisyphean) nature of the task. Hundreds of additional claims regarding other companies await assessment. The Council’s critics argue that the list is more about symbolism than substance, lacking the teeth to force companies to change course. Yet, for Palestinian advocates and many in the international community, the list represents a rare form of accountability for businesses profiting from occupation.
As the debate rages on, one thing remains clear: the U.N. blacklist has become a lightning rod in the broader struggle over the future of the West Bank, the fate of Israeli settlements, and the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Whether it will have any lasting impact on the ground—or merely deepen existing divisions—remains to be seen.