Phil Bloomer, Executive Director, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, said: “An end to the war in Gaza is the top priority. Massive international investment is needed for reconstruction and a new economy. But the ‘Gaza Peace Plan’ raises profound ethical concerns by putting global business at the centre of reconstruction and economic development. It risks turning the recovery into a marketplace for foreign corporate gain at the expense of the reactivation of Gazans’ own economy, and a Palestinian-led economic renewal. It also appears set to reward the same companies that were complicit in, and benefited from, occupation and genocide without accountability, or demand for a fundamental change of approach: surveillance, construction and communications technology especially.

“Any plan that seeks to achieve long-term peace must be Palestinian-led. Businesses and investors must conduct heightened human rights due diligence and build local livelihoods, rather than displacing them. ‘Shock therapies’ of deregulation and privatisation will not deliver after genocide. Rebuilding Gaza must allow Palestinians to reclaim dignity and their right to prosperity and security, rather than becoming another chapter in exploitation and corporate enrichment.” 

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Notes to editors:

• Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) is a global organisation working at the intersection of business and human rights. With partners and allies worldwide, we seek to put human rights at the heart of business to deliver a just economy, climate justice, and end abuse.

Media contact: Priyanka Mogul, Senior Communications Officer (Media/PR), Business & Human Rights Resource Centre ([email protected])