"Making a Killing? State and corporate commercial ties to genocide in Gaza – and what governments and companies must do to prevent it"

Israel is plausibly committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. This briefer examines the legal consequences of this order for companies and third states, with regard to businesses domiciled in their territory and to their own trade and economic relations. [...]

The implications of this order are clear for Israel, but what are the implications for multinational companies with commercial ties to Israel and for the countries in which those companies are headquartered? [...]

To comply with Article 1 of the Genocide Convention, states must take effective action to prevent companies domiciled in their jurisdiction from becoming involved in acts of genocide in Gaza and sanction them if they do so. Below are examples of how companies currently risk becoming involved in genocide. [...]

The capacity of a state to “influence effectively” Israel’s actions in Gaza is in part determined by the depth of its economic ties to Israel. In trade relations, states provide the legal and institutional frameworks for economic cooperation with other states. States that have trade relations with Israel must view these relations as a means reasonably available to prevent genocide. [...]

According to trade facts & figures published by the European Commission, the EU is Israel’s biggest trade partner in terms of value, with a two-way flow of goods, services and foreign direct investments. In 2022, 31.9% of Israel’s imports of goods came from Europe, while 25.6% of Israel’s exports of goods were destined for the EU, in total amounting to €46.8 billion. Two-way trade in services amounted to €16.7 billion in 2021. In 2022, Israel and the United States traded €35.6 billion worth of goods. These are powerful ties that can be effectively leveraged to influence Israel’s conduct in Gaza.  

Economic sanctions, including trade embargoes, are key tools for States to influence the behaviour of other states. Where states have significant commercial ties, these measures can be powerful enough to pressure trading partners to change behaviour in other situations. For example, in response to Russia’s crimes in Ukraine, the EU has since March 2014 progressively imposed sanctions on Russia “designed to weaken Russia’s economic base, depriving it of critical technologies and markets and significantly curtailing its ability to wage war.” [...]

In light of the above, SOMO calls upon third states to:

• Impose an arms embargo on Israel, including for dual-use goods which may reasonably be suspected to be used in the commission of genocide;
• Impose a fuel embargo on Israel;
• Impose targeted sanctions on key individuals within the Israeli government and military responsible for acts possibly amounting to genocide in Gaza, as well as on Israeli companies (and their officials) that are involved in and/or materially supporting conduct that may amount to genocide;
• Partially or wholly suspend existing trade or economic association agreements, as well as government-sponsored trade missions with Israel where lawful;
• Cease procurement from or investment of public funds in Israeli or other firms implicated in Israel’s current military operations in Gaza, plausibly constituting genocide;
• Ensure that no state-owned enterprises contribute to violations of international law and atrocity crimes in Gaza;
• Provide adequate assistance to business enterprises in identifying and preventing the risk of contributing to grave breaches of international law and atrocities in Gaza;
• Ensure that policies and enforcement measures effectively address the risk of businesses being/becoming involved in genocide in Gaza;
• Hold accountable any business enterprises contributing to the Israeli state and military’s capacity for inciting and committing genocidal acts in Gaza; and
• Support all accountability efforts, including at the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, the UN Human Rights Council, and the UN Security Council, to bring about an immediate and permanent ceasefire and to investigate and prosecute any acts of genocide committed during the war on Gaza.

SOMO calls on all companies to:

• Conduct heightened due diligence throughout their business and operations to prevent, identify and immediately discontinue any aspects of their business or operations contributing to grave violations of international law and atrocity crimes in Gaza, namely the crime of genocide;
• Decline any investment or funding from Israeli government entities, companies, or other institutions potentially linked to atrocities in Gaza;
• Suspend commercial relationships with actors known or suspected to be contributing to atrocities in Gaza; and
• Cooperate with the government(s) in their home state(s) to ensure compliance with all applicable measures and regulations addressing the risk of business involvement in the atrocities in Gaza.

The BHRRC has previously invited all companies mentioned by SOMO to respond to the allegations made against them.