Al Jazeera Investigation: Israel Settlement-Linked Firms Land Billions in UK Public Contracts

An Al Jazeera investigation has revealed that at least 17 companies linked to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank hold UK public contracts worth over £2.1 billion ($2.85 billion). The findings come amid calls from more than 140 Labour MPs for the UK government to ban trade with the settlements, a move reportedly under consideration by Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Analysis of procurement records, company documents, and corporate disclosures shows that businesses named by the United Nations for their involvement in illegal settlements – along with subsidiaries they own or control – have won contracts across the UK public sector, including in road maintenance, transport, emergency services, and driver licensing.

Professor Stephen Humphreys, an international law expert at the London School of Economics, told Al Jazeera: “The evidence is increasingly clear that the UK may be in violation of its international obligations… by continuing to contract entities that the UN has identified as providing support of this kind.”

Data compiled by public procurement analytics firm Tussell and shared with Al Jazeera shows these 17 companies and entities hold 125 public sector contracts with a combined tender value of £2.129 billion ($2.89 billion).

Companies owned by Motorola Solutions, a US technology and communications giant, account for more than £1.7 billion ($2.3 billion) of that total – largely through their UK subsidiary Airwave Solutions. Other contracts belong to firms within four more corporate groups: Germany’s Heidelberg Materials, France’s Egis, Spain’s CAF, and China’s Fosun.

A UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights report identified these five corporate groups as involved in business activities linked to Israel’s illegal settlements. Heidelberg Materials’ Israeli subsidiary operates a quarry on Palestinian land in the West Bank, while Motorola is involved in settlement security infrastructure. Egis and CAF participate in the expanding Jerusalem light rail network – a project activists say consolidates Israeli control by integrating settlements into the city while further fragmenting Palestinian neighborhoods.

Fosun International, whose subsidiary Breas Medical receives UK public funds, also owns controversial Israeli cosmetics maker Ahava, which operates in the illegal Mitzpe Shalem settlement in the West Bank. Human rights groups, including the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in the UK, condemn Ahava as “complicit” in the theft of Palestinian land and livelihoods.

Violence is escalating in the West Bank. In July 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory illegal and demanded it end “as rapidly as possible.” The court also placed an obligation on other states “not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” This raises questions about the UK’s ongoing trade relations with companies named in the Al Jazeera investigation.

Professor Humphreys argued the UK may also be failing its legal duty by “not conducting its own investigations into their activities, to prevent if necessary.” The UK has warned businesses not to bid for construction contracts inside illegal settlements.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told Al Jazeera: “Quite simply, the British government is complicit in apartheid. Every day, the UK deepens its complicity in Israel’s occupation economy and, through that, Israel’s genocide economy.”

The UK Cabinet Office told Al Jazeera that public bodies make decisions to exclude suppliers on a case-by-case basis. They said UK public procurement should not be used to boycott suppliers linked to other countries unless formal UK sanctions, embargoes, or restrictions are in place.

Motorola Solutions is identified by the UN as involved in two settlement activities: “providing security services, equipment, and materials to businesses operating in the settlements” and “providing services and utilities that support the maintenance and existence of the settlements, including transportation.” Motorola Solutions is the largest recipient of UK public money in this investigation.

Motorola subsidiaries are tasked with supplying communications equipment for UK emergency services. The largest contract is awarded to Airwave Solutions, a Motorola subsidiary, with an extension worth £1.562 billion ($2.13 billion) to provide a secure communications network for police, fire, and ambulance services across England, Scotland, and Wales. Separately, Motorola Solutions UK holds contracts worth £123.9 million, including a £36.5 million deal with the Ministry of Defence for Airwave radios. Five companies now controlled by Motorola Solutions Inc hold 91 UK public contracts worth £1.726 billion.

Official records show Motorola technology has been used in settlement security and surveillance infrastructure, including contracts from the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council and the Israeli Civil Administration. In 2026, Motorola Solutions Israel was awarded a 25.5 million shekel ($8.7 million) contract to maintain approximately 19,000 Israeli police radios until April 2028.

Heidelberg Materials is listed by the UN for commercial use of natural resources in the occupied Palestinian territory. In the UK, five Heidelberg companies hold 25 public contracts worth £184.79 million. Its subsidiary Hanson Israel owns the Nahal Raba quarry south of Qalqilya in the West Bank, on land belonging to the Palestinian villages of az-Zawiya and Rafat. A proposal to expand the quarry was approved in 2025. Heidelberg told Al Jazeera that Hanson Israel has “ceased all operations” at the quarry since 2023, with only security staff remaining.

France’s Egis is listed by the UN for “providing services and utilities that support the maintenance and existence of the settlements, including transportation.” Egis is involved in the Jerusalem light rail network, which runs through occupied East Jerusalem and connects illegal settlements to West Jerusalem. The UN describes the line as “additional infrastructure serving the illegal settlement network.” In the UK, five Egis-controlled companies hold six public contracts worth £133.60 million, nearly all from a £133.23 million deal with the UK Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Spain’s CAF participates in the 1.8 billion euro Jerusalem light rail project awarded in 2019 to TransJerusalem J-Net Ltd, a company 50% owned by CAF and 50% by Shapir Israel. CAF says the project includes construction of the Green Line and extension of the Red Line, “part of which runs through East Jerusalem,” with a construction phase expected to last until 2027. In the UK, CAF has an £83.5 million contract to supply trams for the West Midlands Metro, running until December 2027.

China’s Fosun International is identified by the UN for commercial use of natural resources, particularly water and land. Fosun announced the acquisition of Israel’s Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories for 290 million shekels in 2016 and owns 99.46% of the company. The European Commission stated in 2018 that Ahava “operates in the Mitzpeh Shalem settlement, located in the occupied territory.” According to the American Friends Service Committee, Ahava’s former factory at the settlement remained operational until 2026, extracting Dead Sea mud from the occupied Palestinian territory. In the UK, Breas Medical, owned by Fosun through Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical, holds two public contracts worth £1.29 million.