Geneva, September 25, 2026.- The UN Human Rights Office today issued an update report on the database of businesses involved in activities in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. A total of 214 companies from 11 countries are listed.
Mandated by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), the database was first issued in 2020, then updated in 2023 and 2025. The update report identifies businesses involved in specific activities related to the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, which the HRC has directed the Office to consider. The latest update focuses on businesses engaged in the agriculture, transport, storage, waste management, energy, food and hospitality providers sectors.
Following a public call for input in 2024, UN Human Rights received submissions concerning 596 businesses. In last year’s report, and within the resources available, the Office reviewed 215 of these enterprises, including the companies previously listed. In this latest update, the Office reviewed 126 companies of the remaining 381. The Office continues to review the businesses whose assessment could not be completed in time for the present report.
Of the 126 enterprises screened, 61 were added to the list. The Office also found that five companies previously listed were no longer involved in such activities, and were removed.
This year’s update also includes information on the type of involvement of each company in adverse human rights impact, based on the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. These provide for three levels of involvement, the highest of which is “causation” – when a company’s activities are sufficient on their own to affect people’s ability to enjoy a human right. This is followed by the “contribution” level, where an enterprise’s activities are combined with those of another actor in a way that affects the enjoyment of a human right. The third level is “direct linkage”, under which a company’s operations, products or services are considered to be directly linked to adverse impacts on human rights.
This assessment focuses on the companies’ impact on the right to self-determination, and, in view of resource limitations, does not address impacts on other rights or forms of involvement on those. Of the 214 companies listed, 200 were found to be contributing to the adverse impacts on the right to self-determination, 14 directly linked and no causation level was established.
The report calls on companies to “meet their own responsibility to respect human rights under widely accepted international standards”.
“Where business enterprises are involved in listed activities, they should take appropriate action to address the adverse human rights impacts with which they are involved,” it says.
“This report is another reminder to companies that they have human rights responsibilities and are expected to conduct due diligence to ensure that they do not become involved in human rights violations or abuses,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said.
This update also follows recent reporting by UN Human Rights examining involvement of business and economic interests in adverse human rights impacts in the context of the current conflicts in Sudan and in Myanmar.
“States must take appropriate steps to ensure, through judicial, administrative, legislative or other appropriate means, that when business-related human rights abuses occur within their territory and/or their jurisdiction, those affected have access to effective remedies, consistent with international law,” the report adds.