A new United Nations report highlights the involvement of dozens of global companies in activities that support Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories and its military actions in Gaza, which are alleged to violate international law. The report, compiled by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, lists 48 companies—many of them multinational corporations—accused of enabling or profiting from what is described as a system of oppression and displacement.
Key players include major US tech firms such as Microsoft, Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Amazon, and IBM. These companies provide critical digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence tools used for surveillance, data collection, and military purposes. The report points out that these firms allow nearly full-scale access to their technologies, supporting biometric tracking and Israel’s restrictive permit regime. Palantir Technologies is identified for its role in supplying predictive policing tools and artificial intelligence systems reportedly used to select targets during military operations in Gaza.
In the arms industry, Lockheed Martin leads a global network of suppliers contributing to Israel’s F-35 fighter jet program. Other firms such as Italy’s Leonardo S.p.A, Japan’s FANUC, and Israel’s own Elbit Systems are noted for their role in manufacturing weapons or military components. Civilian tech and infrastructure companies also play a part in bolstering Israeli control over Palestinian land. Caterpillar, Volvo, HD Hyundai, and Rada Electronic Industries are involved through their provision of heavy machinery used in demolitions and settlement construction in the West Bank.
Additional sectors are implicated. Booking.com and Airbnb profit from listings in Israeli settlements deemed illegal under international law. In agriculture, companies like Netafim and Bright Dairy are tied to the exploitation of Palestinian land and resources. Global energy firms Drummond Company and Glencore are also named for supplying coal to Israel’s power sector, while financial institutions such as Barclays and BNP Paribas are reported to support Israel through investment and bond purchases.
Investment firms BlackRock and Vanguard are among the largest stakeholders in several of the companies named. They hold significant shares in tech, defense, and infrastructure firms that are linked to the war economy, illustrating how deeply entrenched corporate finance is in the situation.
The report argues that these businesses are not just indirectly linked to human rights violations, but may be actively complicit in an economic system driving displacement, destruction, and death. It highlights how profits have soared for many of these corporations since October 2023, when Israel’s military operations in Gaza escalated. Israel’s defense budget rose sharply, and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange saw a major uptick in market value.
According to international legal standards, companies have a responsibility to ensure their actions do not contribute to human rights violations. Failure to conduct proper due diligence or disengage from harmful practices could result in liability, even at the level of individual executives. The report urges immediate corporate divestment from all activities tied to the occupation and military operations, warning that continued involvement could amount to complicity in international crimes
