Al-Haq welcomes the decision by PGGM, the second-largest pension fund manager in the Netherlands, to withdraw its investments from five Israeli banks involved in financing activities related to the settlements located in Occupied Palestinian Territory...Al-Haq further welcomes the decision of the Stichting Pensioenfonds Zorg & Welzijn (PFZW), one of the pension funds managed by PGGM, to add the five Israeli banks to its exclusion list, “following [the Israeli banks’] engagement on activities contrary to international humanitarian law.” Al-Haq...commends PGGM on its reference to international humanitarian law...as a basis for its assessment in making its due diligence process. “Today, we saw one of the world's larger pension asset managers taking an important step towards recognising the contribution of Israeli banks to the perpetuation of the settlements enterprise...PGGM recognised that the difficulty in distinguishing between the banks’ activities in Israel proper and their activities in the settlements stood in the way of adhering to its own ‘responsible investment policy...This decision indicates an important development in the interpretation of corporate social responsibility to include international humanitarian law as part of the due diligence process,”...[refers to Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, First International Bank of Israel, Israel Discount Bank, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, Elbit Systems, Vitens, Mekorot, Royal HaskoningDHV]