By Emma Farge
GENEVA, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The United Nations human rights office issued a list on Friday adding 61 more companies operating in Israeli West Bank settlements, which the global body considers illegal.
The database is highly sensitive as firms could be targeted for boycotts or divestment to pressure Israel over settler expansion in the territory that is home to over 3 million Palestinians.
The database, first released in 2020, now includes 214 firms, mostly from Israel, but also from 10 other countries including France, Germany, China and the US.
Newly added firms included Israeli pesticides maker ADAMA, part of Chinese-owned Syngenta Group, Israel-based real estate investment holding company Alony Hetz and Spain's Salvat Logistica.
They did not immediately respond to a request for comment on their inclusion in the UN database.
They joined companies such as travel agency Expedia and home-rental company Airbnb already on the list.
Israel, which views the West Bank as disputed rather than occupied, has previously said the list unfairly vilifies companies working legally.
"This is a distorted mechanism — created by a deeply flawed body with an automatic majority against Israel," Israel's diplomatic mission said on Friday, alleging that the database was establish to "persecute" the Jewish state.
There has been a surge in settler attacks against Palestinians as outposts proliferate, prompting Britain, France and Canada to block imports from settlements this month.
The UN rights office assessed companies active in a group of sectors including energy, food, hospitality, transport and agriculture, based on confidential submissions to the UN rights office.
Another 60 or so companies were assessed but not included since they did not meet the UN criteria of involvement in activities that violate the Palestinian right to self-determination.
Examples include supplying demolition equipment to destroy Palestinian buildings, provision of surveillance for settlements and other services like transport that help maintain their existence, according to the UN website.
Other companies, like British-registered online travel company Opodo and Spanish-domiciled online travel agent eDreams, have been dropped from the original list after submitting a reassessment request.
The UN found that there were reasonable grounds to believe they were no longer involved in the activities that previously justified their inclusion.
eDreams said last year it had withdrawn and would continue to block listings of accommodation in illegal Israeli settlements, saying that some had appeared on its website automatically after owners uploaded them.
Palestinians want the West Bank to be part of a future independent homeland.
But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nationalist government has largely backed settlers, with building ramped up since the militant Hamas group's attack on Israel in October 2023 and the ensuing Gaza war.
Travel firm Expedia has previously said that the listings in what it called "disputed areas" were clearly labelled, complied with international laws and sanctions and undergo enhanced due diligence guided by UN standards.
(Reporting by Emma Farge; Additional reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Toby Chopra)
