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UN Identifies 214 Firms Linked to Israeli Settlements

Palestinians protest against Israeli settlements near Nablus in the occupied West Bank (Reuters)
Palestinians protest against Israeli settlements near Nablus in the occupied West Bank (Reuters)
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UN Identifies 214 Firms Linked to Israeli Settlements

Palestinians protest against Israeli settlements near Nablus in the occupied West Bank (Reuters)
Palestinians protest against Israeli settlements near Nablus in the occupied West Bank (Reuters)

The United Nations on Friday released a fresh update of its database of companies with activities in Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories, listing 214 firms from 11 countries.

Since last year's update, the UN rights office added an additional 61 companies to the database and had removed five companies.

But major firms like Airbnb, Booking.com, Motorola Solutions and TripAdviser remained on the list.

The report, which was harshly criticized by Israel, served as a "reminder to companies that they have human rights responsibilities", UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.

Firms, he said, "are expected to conduct due diligence to ensure that they do not become involved in human rights violations or abuses".

While most of the companies were based in Israel, others were based in Canada, China, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Britain and the United States.

There were two Spanish companies removed from the database since last year, along with one each from Canada, Israel and Portugal.

The list was first produced in 2020 after a UN Human Rights Council resolution called for a database of firms that profited from business in illegally occupied Palestinian territory.

The UN rights office was asked to list companies found to be taking part in any of 10 activities, including construction, surveillance, demolitions and destruction of agricultural land in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Despite a requirement for the database to be updated annually, it has been revised just twice before, in 2023 and 2025.

The list is not exhaustive.

It only reviews companies about which it received submissions during set timeframes, the last of which closed in June 2024.

In all, it has received submissions about 596 companies, of which it has so far reviewed 381.

Israel, which has been harshly critical of the database from the start, slammed it again Friday as "a distorted mechanism... established solely to persecute the Jewish state".

The country's mission to the UN in Geneva charged that it was "a political tool" used by the rights office "to advance a smear campaign against business enterprises that committed no wrongdoing".

Israel has controlled the West Bank since 1967 in an occupation considered illegal under international law.

 

 

 

 

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Arab World

Syria Says Killed Leader of Armed Cell in Tartus

Members of Syria's Internal Security Forces. (SANA)
Members of Syria's Internal Security Forces. (SANA)
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Syria Says Killed Leader of Armed Cell in Tartus

Members of Syria's Internal Security Forces. (SANA)
Members of Syria's Internal Security Forces. (SANA)

Syrian authorities said on Tuesday that they had killed the leader of an armed cell linked to the former government and wounded another member during an operation in the countryside of Tartus.

In a statement, the Internal Security Forces said they had carried out a "carefully planned ambush" after monitoring the four-member group, which was allegedly planning to carry out "terrorist attacks and armed robberies".

The forces said the ensuing clash resulted in the "neutralization of the cell's leader" and the wounding of another member.

The forces confirmed that specialized units are continuing intensive sweep and pursuit operations across the surrounding rural areas to locate and apprehend the remaining fleeing members of the cell.

State security authorities reiterated their commitment to maintaining public order, eliminating remnants of illegal armed groups, and safeguarding civilian lives and property across all Syrian provinces.

Arab World

Airstrikes, Artillery Fire Wear Down Houthis as Yemeni Army Seizes Strategic Positions

Yemeni army fighters on the Jabal Han front near the city of Taiz. (AFP)
Yemeni army fighters on the Jabal Han front near the city of Taiz. (AFP)
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Airstrikes, Artillery Fire Wear Down Houthis as Yemeni Army Seizes Strategic Positions

Yemeni army fighters on the Jabal Han front near the city of Taiz. (AFP)
Yemeni army fighters on the Jabal Han front near the city of Taiz. (AFP)

Yemeni government forces pressed ahead with Operation Dawn of Yemen on Tuesday, stepping up airstrikes, drone attacks and artillery fire against Houthi positions and reinforcements across several fronts, as troops seized more ground in Al-Jawf and fighting continued in Taiz, Dhale and Marib.

Government forces struck Houthi military vehicles and fighter concentrations on several fronts in Al-Jawf.

Combat units from the Emergency Forces and Nation's Shield forces also captured new strategic positions and commanding heights in the province, military spokesman Majed al-Nuzaili said.

The gains were part of an operation aimed at expanding government control in Al-Jawf, he added.

Houthi attacks repelled in Taiz, Dhale

Government forces in Dhale repelled a Houthi assault on their positions in the Hajar sector in the province's northwest, clashing with attackers below Jabal al-Hasha.

A military source said government troops beat back the assault, inflicting casualties and equipment losses and forcing the Houthi militants to retreat.

In Marib, artillery units shelled Houthi positions and vehicles on the northern front. Emergency Forces also struck Houthi fighters and gatherings, killing 16 and wounding others, according to military sources.

In the besieged city of Taiz, government troops and Popular Resistance fighters thwarted Houthi attacks on the Al-Aqroud and Al-Shaqab fronts southeast of the city on Monday.

A military source said Houthi fighters attempted to advance on army positions in Kahlan, but were repelled and suffered losses.

The Houthis also resumed shelling residential neighborhoods in east and north of Taiz, wounding a civilian and damaging homes and residential buildings.

Government forces retake strategic positions

Yemen's military said its latest operations included 17 airstrikes, 123 drone attacks, 60 rocket launcher strikes and 782 artillery attacks against Houthi positions and military assets.

Warplanes carried out 17 strikes against Houthi positions and military capabilities, while drones conducted 123 attacks across Al-Jawf, Marib, Al-Mudaribah and the southwestern front.

Rocket launcher units carried out 60 strikes, while field artillery launched 782 attacks targeting Houthi fortifications, artillery emplacements, sniper positions, troop concentrations and reinforcements.

Spokesman Al-Nuzaili said the strikes inflicted heavy casualties and equipment losses on the Houthis, forcing dozens of fighters to flee their positions in Al-Jawf, Marib and Taiz.

Arab World

G7 Agrees on Need to Avoid ‘Security Void’ in Lebanon After UN Force Mandate Ends

Under US pressure, the UN Security Council voted last year to end UNIFIL's mandate on December 31, 2026. (AFP)
Under US pressure, the UN Security Council voted last year to end UNIFIL's mandate on December 31, 2026. (AFP)
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G7 Agrees on Need to Avoid ‘Security Void’ in Lebanon After UN Force Mandate Ends

Under US pressure, the UN Security Council voted last year to end UNIFIL's mandate on December 31, 2026. (AFP)
Under US pressure, the UN Security Council voted last year to end UNIFIL's mandate on December 31, 2026. (AFP)

G7 foreign ministers agreed on "the need to avoid a security void" in Lebanon after UN peacekeepers pull out, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday after a meeting of the group in Paris.

They also backed "the need to move quickly toward a new security architecture" after the mandate of United Nations peacekeeping forces in Israel's neighbor expires at the end of the year, he said.

But Barrot acknowledged there had been no breakthrough on what should replace the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which has been in place since 1978 and now counts some 7,500 personnel from nearly 50 countries.

Under US pressure, the UN Security Council voted last year to end UNIFIL's mandate on December 31, 2026.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told AFP in October that the bloc favored a UN peacekeeping mandate in south Lebanon.

Lebanese group Hezbollah drew the country into the broader Middle East war by attacking Israel, which responded with massive airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people.

"I am hopeful that we will reach a consensus," said Barrot. "The objective is widely shared: the withdrawal of Israel (from southern Lebanon), the disarmament of Hezbollah (which is pro-Iranian), and the restoration of a strong state that holds a monopoly on the use of arms -- a state capable of ensuring the security and prosperity of all the populations and all the communities in Lebanon."

Israel now maintains troops in a self-declared occupied "security zone" running around 10 kilometers (six miles) inside Lebanon along the border.

"We underscored the need for a robust, credible, and long-lasting security architecture in Lebanon in support of the Lebanese Armed Forces," the ministers said in their final communique.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that he had discussed the issue with President Emmanuel Macron and suggested that what replaces UNIFIL "doesn't have to be a military mission, it could be a civilian mission."

"We need a verification system trusted by everyone and trusted by both sides that both sides are complying with their obligations under the agreements that are in place," Rubio said.

A transitional mechanism utilizing UNIFIL forces is among the options on the table, a European diplomat said, asking not to be named.

But this could require a UN Security Council resolution and thus run into an American veto, the diplomat warned.

The Europeans are also pushing a proposal for an international military coalition tasked with supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces in their mission to disarm Hezbollah.

However, the formation of such a coalition faces hesitation from Italy, which "remains strongly committed to its presence in Lebanon but appears reluctant to join an ad hoc coalition", partly due to cost concerns, as such missions are not funded by the UN, diplomats said.