GENEVA, September 25, 2026 (WAFA) – The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) today issued an updated report on its database of business enterprises involved in activities within Israeli colonial settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territory, with the list comprising a total of 214 companies from 11 countries.
The database was established pursuant to a mandate from the United Nations Human Rights Council and was first issued in 2020, before being updated in 2023 and 2025.
The updated report identifies the business enterprises involved in specific activities related to Israeli colonial settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territory—activities that the Human Rights Council explicitly mandated the OHCHR to examine.
The latest update focuses on companies operating in agriculture, transportation, storage, waste management, energy, food, and hospitality services. Following a public call for submissions in 2024, the OHCHR received data and information concerning 596 companies.
Within the limits of available resources, OHCHR reviewed 215 business enterprises in last year’s report, including those previously listed. In the current update, OHCHR reviewed 126 of the remaining 381 companies, while continuing its assessment of enterprises whose reviews could not be completed in time for inclusion in the present report.
Out of the 126 business enterprises evaluated, 61 entities were added to the list. Concurrently, the OHCHR determined that five previously listed firms no longer met the criteria for inclusion due to cessation of relevant activities, and were subsequently removed.
This year’s update also includes detailed information regarding the nature of each company’s involvement in adverse human rights impacts, utilizing the framework of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
The Guiding Principles classify involvement into three distinct levels. The highest tier is “causing,” meaning a company’s own activities are sufficient to directly undermine individuals' human rights.
The second level is “contributing,” where a business's operations combine with those of another actor to negatively impact the enjoyment of a human right.
The third level is being “directly linked,” where a company’s operations, products, or services are tied to adverse human rights impacts through a business relationship.
The assessment focuses primarily on the impact of companies on the right to self-determination and, due to resource constraints, does not address impacts on other human rights or additional forms of corporate involvement
Of the 214 companies included in the database, 200 were found to contribute to adverse impacts on the right to self-determination, while 14 were found to be directly linked to such impacts, with no direct causal relationship established.
The report called on business enterprises to meet their responsibility to respect human rights in accordance with widely accepted international standards.
It noted that when business enterprises engage in the activities included on the list, they should take appropriate action to address the adverse human rights impacts in which they are involved.
In this regard, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said that this report is another reminder to businesses that they have human rights responsibilities and are expected to carry out due diligence to ensure that they are not involved in human rights violations or abuses.
The update also follows recent reports issued by OHCHR examining the involvement of commercial and economic interests in adverse human rights impacts in the context of ongoing conflicts in Sudan and Myanmar.
The report stressed that States must take appropriate steps—whether through judicial, administrative, legislative, or other means—to ensure that those affected have access to effective remedies consistent with international law when human rights abuses linked to business activities occur within their territory or jurisdiction.
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