International campaign urging concerned Countries, Companies to stop dealing with Israeli settlements

By: Madeeha Al-A’raj
The ‘National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that thebrutal war waged by the Occupying Sate on the Gaza Strip, besides its blockade, settlement, displacement, and ethnic cleansing, particularly, in isolated Palestinian communities, including Bedouin communities have evoked widespread and unprecedented international reactions not only among official government positions, but also include prominent civil society organizations, calling for sanctions against it, a boycott of goods from its settlements in the West Bank, and a series of measures and procedures that would dry up the resources of a large number of investment projects that provide settlers with opportunities for development and growth at the expense of the interests of Palestinian citizens, their property, and their lands, which are being devoured by the monster of settlements.
Last Monday, more than 80 international non-governmental organizations called on countries and companies, particularly Europeans to end all forms of business dealings with settlements in the occupied West Bank. This came in a joint report titled ‘Trade with Illegal Settlements.’ The report was co-authored by influential organizations, such as, the Human Rights League, a broad network of NGOs operating in many countries, Oxfam, an international confederation of organizations working in more than 90 countries to combat poverty and inequality-;- and Justice and Peace Scotland - which also joined the campaign- an agency of the Catholic Church in Scotland. The report emphasized that the continued activities of some foreign companies and institutions within the settlements -dir-ectly contribute to the worsening humanitarian crisis resulting from the Israeli occupation.
The report highlighted a number of European states that contribute to supporting the settlement economy by selling their products inside Israel. It called on countries, particularly members of the European -union- and the United Kingdom, to impose an explicit ban on any commercial´-or-investment activity related to the settlements, including the provision of services and financing. It also called for preventing financial institutions from providing loans to companies involved in projects within these settlements.
The report pointed to the French Carrefour supermarket chain, whose business partnerships in Israel -dir-ectly support the settlement economy by enabling the sale of its products. Meanwhile, equipment produced by the British company JCB is used to destroy Palestinian homes, damage their crops, and build settlements. The report also named foreign banks, such as, the British Barclays Group, saying they finance commercial activities in the settlements, it also accused the German company Siemens of contributing to transportation infrastructure serving the settlements.
The report is consistent with the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legality of the Israeli occupation issued on 19 July 2024, which affirms that the continued presence of the State of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory is illegal and that the State of Israel is obligated to end its illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territory as soon as possible, to immediately cease all new settlement activities, to evacuate all settlers from the occupied Palestinian territory, and to provide compensation for damages to all Palestinians, men and women,´-or-legal persons concerned in the occupied Palestinian territory.
It is in consistent with the report presented to the UN Human Rights Council last July by Francesca Albanese, the Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, entitled ‘From an Economy of Occupation to an Economy of Genocide’. she asserted that foreign companies contribute to supporting the Israeli settlement project through the forced displacement of Palestinians and their replacement with settler populations. She asserted that settlement activities in these settlements are financed by banks and insurance companies, while tourism platforms, large retail chains, and academic institutions participate in the normalization process. Albanese called on consumers to hold these companies accountable through their purchasing choices.
As for settlement activities, the Supreme Planning Council of the Civil Administration is discussing plans to build 1,276 housing units across the West Bank, including 278 housing units in the Avigal settlement, which was legalized by the Israeli government in Feb. 2023. The new settlement plans cover the settlements of ‘Gitit’ on the lands of the Tammun town in the Tubas Governorate, with 281 housing units, ‘Avigal’ east of the town of Yatta in the Hebron Governorate, with 278 housing units, ‘Ma ale Amos’ on the lands of the Kissan village in the Bethlehem Governorate, with 371 housing units,
‘Eleazar’ on the lands of the Al-Khader town in the Bethlehem Governorate, with 66 housing units, and ‘Ariel’ settlement on the lands of the Salfeet city and the villages of Iskaka, Marda, and Kifl Haris in the Salfeet Governorate, with about 280 units. The Civil Administration s Higher Planning Council held a meeting on August 20 and approved the deposit of the plan for the ‘Asahel settlement’, also located in the South Hebron Hills, as part of the legalization of 2 of 10 settlements it approved in Feb. 2023.
This comes as an extension of the changes made by the Netanyahu-Smotrich’s government in June 2023, which abolished the requirement for the army minister s approval for each stage of settlement plan development. Previously, every construction plan in the settlements required the minister s prior approval. In recent years, the army minister controlled the pace of settlement plan development about 4 times a year, approving thousands of housing units in a single session of the Supreme Planning Council. Under this government, the most extreme in the history of the occupying state, a fundamental change has taken place.
The Supreme Planning Council meets weekly and approves hundreds of housing units at each meeting, in an effort to normalize planning in the settlements and reduce public and international attention and criticism. This has resulted, since Nov. 2024 in particular, in a shift in the weekly approval process that not only facilitates construction in the territories but also accelerates it, bringing the total to 25,129 housing units by the beginning of 2025 - a record number.
Last Sunday, the Israeli occupation army issued a military order to bulldoze about 200 dunams of Palestinian land in the Tulkarm city, north of the West Bank. The order covers areas extending from the sewage ponds west of the city, passing through the ‘Nitzani Oz 104’ military gate, to the Bir al-Sikka area adjacent to the Shuweika suburb north of the city. The order stipulates the removal of trees within 24 hours under the pretext of ‘protecting’ the Beit Hefer settlement, a move seen as a security cover for expanding settlement control and threatening the livelihoods of dozens of farmers.
The occupation authorities justify the measures by claiming that they aim to ‘protect’ the Beit Hefer settlement, established north of Tulkarm, in a step that falls within an expansionist policy under a security cover. The order stipulates that implementation will begin within 24 hours of its announcement, with landowners being given a short period to object during this period.
As the brutal war waged by the occupying Sate on the Gaza Strip continues, and the delusions continue to dominate the thinking and behavior of a number of Israeli officials in one of Israel s most extremist governments. Israeli National Security Minister, Ben-Gvir said during a police ceremony last Monday, marking the Jewish New Year, that he plans to establish a residential neighborhood for Israeli police officers in the Gaza Strip, on the beach, in an ‘ideal location.’ Ben-Gvir was met with applause from the officers and police officers present. Ben-Gvir, whose remarks were interrupted by warm applause from the police, claimed that ‘he will establish a luxurious neighborhood for police officers, with high-rise buildings that include all the amenities.
It is time to encourage immigration, and to approve the death penalty for terrorists. This is correct, appropriate, moral, and real. He claimed that ‘settlements bring security, and it is time for Jewish settlement in Gaza. This won’t be just housing, it will be a symbol of our faith and our vision. While the Israeli government hasn’t yet decided on a settlement plan for the Gaza Strip, Ben-Gvir claimed that ‘this settlement will be in the most beautiful area in the Middle East. We have a mission, and we hope that Israeli soldiers will occupy Gaza and that we’ll encourage voluntary emigration, meaning the expulsion of Gazans from the Strip.
The settlement activities continue at advancing construction plans in settlements and legalizing others that were previously considered outposts, they extend to Judaization projects with the participation of the highest levels of the US Administration. Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the outposts established by the occupation authorities in the Silwan town in East Jerusalem, including the so-called ‘City of David Archaeological Park’, which is managed by the Elad settlement organization. He joined Israeli PM Netanyahu in inaugurating a tunnel dug by the Israeli Antiquities Authority on behalf of that settlement organization, which specializes in seizing the lands of Jerusalemite citizens.
The Netanyahu’s government funded the tunnel with about NIS 50 million that begins at the southern end of Wadi Hilweh in Silwan, passing under Palestinian homes and under the walls of the Old City, ending next to the foundations of the Western Wall of the Noble Sanctuary, just a few meters from Al-Aqsa Mosque. In fact, the tunnel, which Netanyahu attributes historical archaeological value to, as a result of alleged Jewish heritage dating back to the first century AD, is a Roman street that the Elad settlement organization has dubbed the ‘Pilgrims Road’, used by Jewish pilgrims on their way to the Noble Sanctuary.
The Elad settlement Association and the Israel Antiquities Authority are portraying the excavations as a new discovery, reinforcing a religious narrative that portrays the site as a Jewish heritage site with political connotations. The excavation of this ‘tunnel’ has been criticized within Israeli archaeological circles. Israel Antiquities Authority documents, revealed by the Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh, show that senior Israeli archaeologists distanced themselves from the project, describing it as ‘bad archaeology.’ The Roman street itself had been known to researchers since early 20th century excavations in Silwan.
The Peace Now Movement commented on Rubio s visit, saying, ‘his visit is nothing less than American recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the most sensitive parts of the Holy Basin in Jerusalem, contradicting Washington s previous positions since 1967. The Trump team has chosen to entrench the settlement grip in the heart of the Haram al-Sharif area, rather than advance a political settlement. The tunnel, and how it was dug, and what lies behind its opening are a violation of Jerusalem as a city holy to all faiths, owned by all its inhabitants, and located just meters from the Al-Aqsa Mosque’.
List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:

- Attacking the Al-Ara ra Bedouin Community near the Jaba town, and torched a number of homes.
- Handing over demolition orders to homes and agricultural barns in the Qatna town and Khirbet Um al-Lahm.
- Demolishing the walls of a house and tin sheets in the Bir Ayoub neighborhood in Silwan,, as well as barns and agricultural facilities in Jaba , northeast of occupied Jerusalem.
Hebron:
- Paving a new settlement road in the ‘Ikhtilal al-Ghadra area’ in Wadi al-Jawaya in Masafer Yatta, with the aim of connecting the settlement outposts established in the area and expanding control over the lands.
- Injuring a settler attack on the villages of al-Rakeez and al-Tuwana in Masafer Yatta, where settlers stormed the Sha b al-Tuwana area and assaulted the citizens, beating them and throwing stones at them, causing a number of them to suffer bruises and wounds, including a woman from the al-Adra family who was transferred to Yatta Governmental Hospital.
- Storming the al-Rakeez village, and assaulted the residents, resulting in a number of them suffering bruises and wounds, including the elderly Sae’ed al-Amour, 60, whose leg was previously amputated after a settler fired live bullets -dir-ectly at him.
- Notifying the demolition of 5 homes owned by the Abu Qubaita family in the village of ‘Lasifer’ in Masafer’.
- Destroying the electricity line feeding the Um al-Khair village, while others continued to set up more caravans on the eastern side of the ruin, a few meters away from the residents’ homes.
- Demolishing the remains of the Khallet al-Daba’ village after having demolished most of it in early May. Head of the village council in al-Tuwanah, Moh’d Rab’i, said that the occupation forces stormed the village and demolished it with bulldozers for the second time included what remained of the caves and residential tents, in addition to the re-destruction of the water network, health units, and solar energy cells, as well as, the destruction of surveillance cameras designated for documenting the attacks of the occupation and settler groups on the residents and their property.
Bethlehem:
- Releasing their livestock onto Palestinian lands east of Bethlehem, in the Khalayel al-Loz area planted with olive trees, damaging the trees and crops by settlers.
- Seizing a caravan in the Um Rukba area, south of al-Khader, belonging to Abdullah Salah.
- Demolishing a car wash swtore in Husan village, belonging to Diaa Zaoul, on the pretext of not having a license.
Ramallah:
- Assaulting citizen Hisham Ayyad, who suffered bruises and contusions after settlers attack, and then stolen his vehicle in the Deir-Dibwan town, east of Ramallah. They took him to a nearby settlement outpost to intimidate him.
- bulldozing of citizens lands in the Batn al-Halawa area, north of the Sinji town, in preparation for seizing them.
- Attacking citizens vehicles at the Atara Military Checkpoint, north of Ramallah, after closing the checkpoint with his vehicle to the movement of citizens vehicles.
- Injuring 4 citizens, suffered bruises in an attack launched by armed settlers on a Bedouin community east of the Rammun village. Local sources reported that dozens of armed settlers, under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces, attacked a Bedouin community comprising two families, assaulted the two families and seized their sheep.
Nablus:
- Organizing provocative tours in the Al-Shakara community east of Duma town, south of Nablus.
- Attacking farmers Abdul Karim Hamad and Nael Aqel, assaulted them and destroyed their vehicles while they were in the Sebastia Plain.
- Releasing livestock onto farmers lands among olive trees, while another group released their livestock into Beit Dajan lands east of Nablus, damaging trees and crops by settlers.
Salfeet:
- Delivering an order to seize a ten and a half dunams of Kafr ad-Dik lands to build a separation fence adjacent to the citizens’ homes, starting from the ‘Al-Abbara area’, reaching the ‘Peduel’ and ‘Ale Zahav’ settlements. The mayor of Kafr ad-Dik, Yousef Ali Ahmed, stated that the occupation delivered a military order to seize those lands located in Basin n. (2) in different areas of the town, for military purposes-;- and it aims to pave and expand a new military road extending from the entrance to the town towards the Bruqin town, reaching the settlement outpost that the settlers established months ago, which causes the uprooting and loss of hundreds of old olive trees.
Jenin:
- Destroying trees and crops in the Burqin Plain, west of Jenin, on a 3-dunam plot of land belonging to Alam Saeed Al-Asi, causing losses of between NIS 25,000 and 30,000.
Jordan Valley:
- Attacking farmers while they were working their land in Khirbet Ibziq in the northern Jordan Valley, threatening them in an attempt to expel them from their lands, where conflicts broke out between the settlers and the farmers, who refused to leave their lands.
- Storming the Hamma community and took up residence near a water spring in the area.
- Storming the Shallal al-Auja Bedouin Community, north of Jericho, and released their sheep into the homes of citizens, destroying and vandalizing fodder and the residents property.

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