UN report names 48 multinational corporations allegedly profiting from Palestinian occupation

The United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories has unveiled a report listing up to 48 multinational corporations allegedly complicit in the ongoing war and profiting from the occupation of Palestine.

The findings, presented by Francesca Albanese during a media briefing in Geneva on Thursday, accuse these corporations of failing to uphold their legal responsibilities, thereby facilitating a system of exploitative occupation.

Albanese's report highlights a troubling landscape where corporations across various sectors—including weapons manufacturers, technology firms, financial institutions, and construction companies—are said to be contributing to what she describes as a “livestreamed genocide.”

The findings underscore a broader complicity, presenting a picture where corporate interests overshadow profound ethical considerations regarding human rights violations in the region.

“These actors have entrenched and expanded Israel’s settler-colonial logic of displacement and replacement – and this is not accidental,” Albanese said.

“It is the function of an economy built to dominate, dispossess, and erase Palestinians from their land.”

She emphasised that, instead of using their leverage to oppose human rights abuses, these companies have normalised Israel’s oppressive actions as mere economic activities, ignoring the escalating atrocities following the 7 October 2023.

The report doesn't just stop at identifying companies; it extends its scope to corporations enabling the infrastructure that supports this occupation.

Albanese asserted that numerous firms involved in finance, research, advertising, and legal consulting have played a role in sustaining the settler-colonial regime through the dissemination of bias, narratives, and investment.

“Corporate actors are deeply entwined in the system of occupation, apartheid and genocide in the occupied Palestinian territory,” Albanese said.

“For decades, Israel’s repression of Palestinian people has been scaffolded by corporations, fully aware of and yet indifferent to, decades of human rights violations and international crimes.”

Among the firms highlighted are technology giants like Alphabet, IBM, Amazon, and Microsoft, accused of providing carceral and surveillance services that fuel the machine of oppression.

Meanwhile, arms manufacturers such as Elbit Systems and Lockheed Martin have reportedly supplied Israel with military hardware, including cutting-edge fighter jets and drones, enabling destructive operations.

According to the Gaza health ministry, more than 56 000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s military during its 21-month campaign in Gaza. 

Albanese’s findings correlate with the sentiment that the international community must hold corporations accountable.

She drew parallels with South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which had repercussions for corporations embroiled in apartheid.

“The serious, structural and sustained nature of Israel’s crimes and violations triggered a prima facie responsibility to disengage — one that many corporations ignored,” she said.

“Corporate fixation on narrow technicalities and isolated violations rather than confronting the structural illegality of their ties to Israel’s occupation is disingenuous.” 

Energy companies were also scrutinised for their roles in perpetuating the Israeli blockade.

The report revealed that Israel depends heavily on energy inputs from global corporations, which have their own stakes in maintaining an energy infrastructure that serves the needs of both Israeli settlers and the military, while denying similar resources to Palestinians.

It mentioned Swiss-based Glencore plc as among primary suppliers for coal that powers electricity in Israel

"Glencore was also involved in shipments from South Africa; these shipments accounted for 15% of Israeli coal imports in 2023 and 2024. By supplying Israel with coal, gas, oil and fuel, companies are contributing to civilian infrastructures that Israel uses to entrench permanent annexation and now weaponizes in the destruction of Palestinian life in Gaza," it said.

However, Glencore's head of corporate communications, Charles Watenphul, told Business Report that there was no substance in the allegations made in the report.

“We categorically reject all allegations contained in the report and consider them to be without any foundation and legally groundless,” Watenphul said.

Albanese called for sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel and for global corporations to be held accountable for “profiting from genocide” in Gaza.

Last month, the Trump administration wrote to UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres calling on the UN to remove Albanese, alleging “virulent antisemitism and support for terrorism” and alleging that she claimed to be an “international lawyer” but was not licensed to practice law.

Albanese is an Italian legal scholar who has been the special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories since 2022.

BUSINESS REPORT