The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) has developed this submission in response to the call from the Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT). This submission outlines established international standards on responsibilities of business operating in or providing services in the context of conflict. We also highlight specific concerns regarding corporate human rights conduct in relation to the war on Gaza since 7 October 2023, based on: more than 382 news items on business and human rights in Israel/OPT tracked by the Resource Centre over the period; a survey of 104 technology companies operating in Israel/OPT regarding heightened due diligence; and the responses sought from 36 arms companies and investors named in the recent UN Experts’ statement calling states and companies to cease arms transfers to Israel amid the war on Gaza.

Following the Resource Centre's work on conflicts in Myanmar and Ukraine, we have been monitoring news on human rights issues linked to companies operating in, supplying or involved in OPT. From 7 October 2023 to 16 July 2024 we reached out to companies and investors 57 times asking them to respond to alleged human rights violations based on media and civil society reports. We only received 11 responses, constituting a response rate of 19% - concerningly lower than our typical all-time response rate of 58%. During this period, 55 specific companies and investors were linked to allegations of human rights abuses and added to our database.

Key points from the submission include:

• Sectors predominantly involved in allegations of rights abuses include arms and weapon manufacturers, tech companies, oil and gas companies, financial and legal institutions, and the housing and hospitality industry. 
• The consistent lack of engagement from companies indicates a deficit in their commitment to respond to alleged rights violations in the particularly critical, high-risk context of conflict. Regulation to ensure robust transparency, enhanced human rights due diligence, and accountability for harms is warranted.
• Companies can play a positive and constructive role during conflict, which may assuage some of the despair and suffering faced by the people caught in this war. However, our monitoring reveals that general corporate conduct in OPT is shockingly poor.

BHRRC's recommendations:

For companies:

• Urgently end the transfer, sale or other services related to arms, ammunition, dual-use technologies and other military equipment to Israel, Hamas or any armed groups involved in this war.
• Apply the UN and OECD agreed standards for heightened human rights and environmental due diligence across operations and value chains. Ensure transparency regarding risk assessment and mitigation plans, including in respect of civil society and media requests for information on conduct around the war.
• Actively engage with key stakeholders representing victims and vulnerable groups on both sides in the design, implementation and monitoring of due diligence.
• Use the company’s individual and collective leverage to promote respect for law, human rights, democracy and peace, and raise awareness of potential harms and risks in conflict-affected zones, and to share learnings.
• Ensure responsible entry and exit from conflict-affected zones.
• Deliver consistent approaches to heightened due diligence across challenging business environments to respect civilians and the rules of war, and avoid double standards.

For investors:

• Develop and conduct heightened due diligence plans and actively engage company investees to insist on the same.
• Use individual and collective investor voice to ensure that investee companies immediately end the sale or services related to arms, ammunition, dual-use technologies and other military equipment to Israel, Hamas or any armed groups involved in this war.
• Consult with independent experts, including from civil society, on the risk of harm and mitigation measures necessary from investors to promote corporate heightened due diligence, respect for law, democracy and peace.
• Insist on investee companies engaging with civil society and media to provide adequate responses to allegations of human rights violations linked to them in this war.

For governments:

• Prohibit companies from transferring arms, ammunition, dual-use technologies and other military equipment to Israel, Hamas or any armed groups involved in this war.
• States, especially those in the Global North must explore national and international mechanisms to hold companies domiciled in their territories accountable for violations.
• Establish and leverage legislative and regulatory measures consistent with international standards of heightened human rights due diligence, with special reference to the high risk sectors.
• Provide urgent guidance to business enterprises on the application of heightened human rights due diligence tailored to this conflict and other conflicts, and insist on implementation.
• Facilitate multi-stakeholder platforms to promote dialogue on business-related risks to human rights in conflict, and ways to strengthen monitoring and accountability.
• Insist on transparency in respect of corporate conduct around the war.

Note: This document was updated in November 2024. An earlier version of this document included inaccuracies in the number of company responses sought and the companies involved.