Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Israel continues to carry out bomb attacks on the Gaza region, causing at least 8,000 casualties, most of them children. The Jewish State targeted a number of vital buildings, including hospitals and places of worship.

Israel’s actions in continuing to kill Gaza residents have sparked anger among many people around the world. As a result, many movements are calling for a boycott of companies that have connections to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

In 2020, the United Nations (UN) released a list of 112 companies with business ties in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel. Launching from The Guardianon the list are TripAdvisor, Airbnb, Booking.com, and the British truck and excavator maker, JCB.

According to the UN, most of the 112 companies with business ties in Palestinian settlements, especially in the West Bank, are Israeli-owned companies. In fact, running a business on occupied land is illegal according to international law.

Several travel companies are accused of profiting financially from the Israeli occupation by renting out rooms in homes and guesthouse owned by settlers in the Palestinian territories.

As many as 94 of the 112 companies that have business ties in Palestinian settlements, especially in the West Bank, are Israeli-owned companies. In fact, running a business on occupied land is illegal according to international law.

“Of the registered companies, 94 companies are domiciled in Israel and 18 companies in six other states, namely the United States (US), France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Thailand and the UK,” wrote the report BBC Internationalquoted Monday (30/10/2023).

A form of support for 112 companies against the Israeli occupation of Palestine

According to BBC International citing a UN report, the 112 companies carried out a number of activities that supported Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. These activities are:

• Supplying equipment and materials that facilitate the construction and expansion of Israel’s West Bank settlements and barriers
• Supplying equipment for the demolition of housing and property, as well as the destruction of agricultural land, greenhouses, olive groves and food crops
• Providing services and benefits that support the maintenance and existence of settlements, including transportation
• Banking and financial operations to help develop, expand, or maintain settlements and their activities, including loans for housing and businesses.

Several travel companies are accused of benefiting financially from the Israeli occupation by renting out rooms in homes and guesthouses owned by settlers in the Palestinian territories.

In 2018, Airbnb announced that it would remove all properties in Israeli settlements from its website. However, after protests in Israel, the company from the United States (US) reversed this decision.

Previously, JCB had long been criticized by human rights activists because the Israeli military was photographed using JCB bulldozers in the West Bank.

Photo: Palestinians inspect damaged roads following an Israeli attack on Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank September 24, 2023. (REUTERS/ALI SAWAFTA)

The UN said that the data report released was not part of a legal process and did not have any legal impact on the companies concerned. However, the list can become a reference material for Palestinian supporters to pressure the Israeli government and boycott companies that support Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land.

“I realize that this issue will continue to be controversial,” said Head of the UN Human Rights Council for the 2018-2022 period, Michelle Bachelet.

“However, after an extensive and thorough review process, we are confident that this fact-based report reflects the serious consideration that has been given to this unprecedented and highly complex mandate,” he continued.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki welcomed the report released by the UN and called it a “Victory for international law and diplomatic efforts.”

Photo: A Palestinian woman sits in front of a damaged building after the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from the Jenin camp, in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank July 5, 2023. (REUTERS/MOHAMAD TOROKMAN)

Meanwhile, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) group, said that the data-based report released by the UN was “the first very significant concrete step by a UN entity to hold Israeli and international companies accountable”.

For information, the UN Human Rights Council was reported to have adopted a resolution in 2016 to produce this report.

According to the BBC, around 600 thousand Jews occupy around 140 settlements in Palestine built since Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967.

Palestine and most countries in the world consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law.

However, Israel denied the accusations and the US said that Israeli settlements in the West Bank were no longer considered illegal.

Response from Israeli officials

Photo: AFP/MAHMOUD ZAYYAT Lebanese and Palestinian students burn a copy of the Israeli flag during a solidarity rally with the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, in Martyrs’ Square in the coastal city of Sidon, in southern Lebanon on October 26, 2023. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP )

Former Israeli President, Reuven Rivlin, invited all parties who support Israel to oppose boycott threats from around the world, especially after the UN released a list of companies that have business ties in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israeli settlements.

“We call on our friends around the world to oppose this shameful initiative,” Rivlin said.

According to Rivlin, the UN list includes leading Israeli companies in key sectors, such as food, transportation and communications, which occupy the West Bank and are the biggest drivers of Israel’s economy.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his party would “fight the threat of boycott with all our might.”

[Gambas:Video CNBC]

(hsy/hsy)