Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the stage at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, drawing both a mass walkout of delegations and cheers from supporters invited to the audience. As Netanyahu began the first speech of the day, delegates were called to order, but many chose to exit in protest.
Netanyahu declared that Israel had “crushed the bulk” of Hamas’s “terror machine” and vowed to “finish the job as fast as possible.” He highlighted a series of Israeli strategic victories over the past year, including efforts to counter Iran’s nuclear program and the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon.
Escalating Violence in Gaza
Meanwhile, the situation on the ground in Gaza remained dire. The Gaza civil defence agency, which operates under Hamas authority, reported that Israeli forces killed more than 20 people across the Palestinian territory on Friday, including 11 in Gaza City. This spike in violence came just before Netanyahu’s UN speech as the Israeli military intensified its offensive in Gaza City, forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to flee.
The Israeli military stated that its air force had struck over 140 targets throughout Gaza in the last 24 hours, targeting terrorists, tunnel shafts, and military infrastructure. Footage from the Al-Shati refugee camp near Gaza City showed extensive damage caused by airstrikes, with buildings reduced to rubble and residents searching through the debris for belongings.
UN Updates Database on Companies Operating in Israeli Settlements
On the diplomatic front, the United Nations released a long-awaited update of its database listing companies with business activities in Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories. The updated list includes 158 firms from 11 countries, highlighting ongoing international scrutiny of corporate involvement in the occupied West Bank.
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk condemned Israel’s settlement policy as a war crime. The database names major companies such as Airbnb, Booking.com, Motorola Solutions, and TripAdvisor, while removing others like Alstom and Opodo from the list.
Global Corporate Accountability and Human Rights
Most companies on the list are Israeli-based, but others hail from Canada, China, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the UK, and the US. The UN rights office urged these companies to take appropriate actions to address the adverse human rights impacts linked to their activities.
The report emphasized that businesses must ensure their operations do not contribute to human rights abuses and should cooperate in remediation where harm has occurred.
Background of the UN Database
The database was first created in 2020 following a UN Human Rights Council resolution that called for identifying companies profiting from activities in occupied Palestinian territories. It covers firms involved in construction, surveillance, demolition, and destruction of agricultural land in settlements.
The UN rights office clarifies that the listing is not a judicial process but serves as a tool for accountability. Despite the requirement for annual updates, the list had only been revised once before, in 2023, when 15 companies were removed, leaving 97 on the list.
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