GENEVA: The UN human rights office has updated a list of companies doing business with Israeli settlements, removing 15 companies from the database that were no longer involved, a spokesperson said on Friday.
The long-awaited update comes amid surging violence in the West Bank in the past 15 months including deadly clashes during army raids in volatile cities like Jenin, a spate of fatal attacks by Palestinian gunmen against Israeli settlers, and rampages by settler mobs in Palestinian villages.
However, the UN list was limited in scope due to budget restrictions and the rights office was only able to review the original list of 112 companies, spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a press briefing.
There was no immediate comment from Israel. Its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the previous version, as did Washington which has long protested the “disproportionate attention” given to Israel by the Geneva-based council.
The database was mandated by the UN Human Rights Council in 2016 but was not released until 2020. Civil society groups say the database is an important tool to ensure transparency around business activities in the West Bank and to prompt companies to rethink their activities in the occupied territories.
Most of the firms named in the database when it was set up were domiciled in Israel but it also included international firms listed in the United States, Britain and France, among others.
Packaged food maker General Mills was the only international firm removed from the list. Among those that remained were online travel sites Booking.com and Expedia and home-rental company Airbnb.
UN pares down list of firms doing business with Israeli settlements
https://arab.news/y2cmh
UN pares down list of firms doing business with Israeli settlements
- The long-awaited update comes amid surging violence in the West Bank in the past 15 months
- Most of the firms named in the database when it was set up were domiciled in Israel
Israel army says killed six Gaza militants despite ceasefire
- The military said that it had killed two of six militants it had identified adjacent to its troops in western Rafah and that tanks had fired on them
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said Wednesday it had killed six militants in an updated toll from an exchange of fire in Gaza the day before, accusing them of violating the ceasefire in the territory.
The military said in a statement late on Tuesday that it had killed two of six militants it had identified adjacent to its troops in western Rafah and that tanks had fired on them.
It said they were killed in an ensuing exchange of fire, including aerial strikes, while troops continued to search for the rest.
In a statement on Wednesday, the military said that “following searches that were conducted in the area, it is now confirmed that troops eliminated the six terrorists during the exchange of fire.”
It said the presence of the militants adjacent to troops and the subsequent incident were a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement.”
A security source in Gaza reported late on Tuesday that Israeli forces had “opened fire west of Rafah city.”
Under a truce that entered into force in October following two years of war between Israel and Hamas, Israeli forces in Gaza withdrew to positions behind a demarcation known as the “yellow line.”
The city of Rafah is located behind the yellow line, under Israeli army control. The area beyond the yellow line remains under Hamas authority.
Both sides have repeatedly accused the other of violating the ceasefire.
According to the health ministry in Gaza, which operates under Hamas authority, at least 165 children have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire began on October 10.
The UN children’s agency UNICEF said on Tuesday that at least 100 children — 60 boys and 40 girls — had been killed since the truce.
Israeli forces have killed a total of at least 447 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, according to the ministry.
The Israeli army says militants have killed three of its soldiers during the same period.
