by Dr Shahd Hammouri and Wesam Ahmad

As millions around the world ask, Why is the genocide not stopping?, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese responds: Because it is profitable. Her report arrives at a pivotal historical moment, following a long line of red alerts by the ICJ, ICC, UN, and various states against Israel’s grave violations of international law. The silence of third-party states in the face of this unending bloodshed has triggered an existential crisis for international law – one that can only be resolved through the kind of moral clarity Albanese exemplifies.

The report confronts businesses with a stark portrait of the risks they incur by investing in Israel’s war economy. It raises urgent questions about long-term corporate due diligence: Are the lessons of past mass atrocities and colonial exploitation not relevant to risk assessment today? The lack of red flags across industries operating in Israel reveals a dangerous shortsightedness – one that ignores historical patterns of harm.

Despite the backlash Albanese’s report has provoked, her bold stance marks a step toward inevitable justice. At a recent expert panel on corporate accountability and the ICJ’s ruling, speakers highlighted the growing wave of strategic litigation targeting corporate complicity in Israel’s war economy. They warned businesses to prepare for heightened legal risks whether under criminal, civil, or even corporate liability laws.

Moreover, they cautioned that ad hoc accountability mechanisms like the UN Public Hearings for Transnational Corporations in South Africa might soon emerge. In this shifting landscape, corporations must uphold their responsibilities under the Business and Human Rights framework. Where they lack the leverage to drive meaningful change, disengagement from systems of systemic violation is not just ethical – it is a legal imperative.

The reverberations of Albanese’s report will extend far beyond Palestine. Her incisive critique also serves as a wake-up call for Global South states to strengthen oversight of transnational corporations and enforce meaningful accountability measures. Historically, such regulatory efforts have been undermined by the investor-driven "race to the bottom," which has systematically discouraged robust corporate oversight. However, Albanese’s report provides renewed oxygen to the ongoing negotiations around an internationally binding treaty on business and human rights, which aims to address these historical failures, building on the legacy of Salvador Allende and his warnings to the UN General Assembly more than 50 years ago.

The fight against corporate complicity in Israel’s war economy could plant the seeds for a unified international movement to enforce corporate human rights obligations. This potential may soon be tested: this week, the Hague Group Emergency Ministerial Conference on the Genocide in Gaza – where Albanese will be present – could mark the beginning of such coordinated action.

Dr Shahd Hammouri is a lecturer in law at the University of Kent and a non-resident academic fellow with the Al-Haq Center for Applied International Law regularly advising on the area of BHR.

Wesam Ahmad is the Head of the Al-Haq Center for Applied International Law engaged in the binding treaty process since 2017 as part of the ESCR-Net Corporate Accountability Working Group.