Firms tied to West Bank settlements win $15m UK deals despite sanctions

The United Kingdom awarded 10.7 million pounds ($14.4m) in new public contracts to firms with links to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, despite British government pledges to punish companies that profit from settlement activity, an Al Jazeera investigation reveals. The contracts were published after the British government announced new powers on September 8 to sanction companies profiting from business with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law.

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The companies “appear to be in breach of their legal obligations under international humanitarian law”, Neve Gordon, a professor at the school of law at Queen Mary University of London, told Al Jazeera. “Any UK company that is involved in the occupation is likely to be in direct breach of the sanctions regime Ed Miliband is putting in place,” Gordon said, referring to the UK foreign secretary. This follows a previous Al Jazeera investigation in August which revealed at least 17 companies linked to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank have been awarded UK public-sector contracts worth more than 2.1 billion pounds ($2.85bn).

Advertisement On September 8, Miliband told the House of Commons the government would now “take action against specific companies and individuals who provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing or real estate for settlement expansion”. “To those who finance or facilitate illegal settlements, let me say this: you will face the full force of UK sanctions … Settlements are illegal.” Since the announcement, however, UK public bodies have published details of an additional 18 public contracts with companies linked to illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Former Labour Party leader and MP Jeremy Corbyn told Al Jazeera: “Britain cannot credibly claim that it is imposing sanctions on Israeli settlements while letting contracts continue through the back door. The fact that public money is still going to firms that could be targeted under the government’s own sanctions regime … is outrageous and frankly insulting to the public.” Al Jazeera contacted the Cabinet Office for comment about this but received no response.

The Cabinet Office previously told Al Jazeera that individual public authorities make decisions to exclude suppliers on a case-by-case basis for each contract they award. It said public procurement in the UK should not be used to boycott suppliers linked to other countries unless formal British sanctions, embargoes or restrictions are in place. Heidelberg Materials One group that the UN listed in its September 2026 settlement index update for its commercial use of natural resources in the occupied Palestinian territory is Heidelberg Materials, a multinational building materials firm with headquarters in Germany.

Three Heidelberg subsidiaries were named in 14 contracts worth 10.4 million pounds ($14.5m), mostly to undertake roadworks and resurfacing for National Highways and councils in Nottingham and Lincolnshire in central-eastern England. The group has been granted at least 35 UK contracts worth about 194.7 million pounds ($261m) across five of its subsidiaries. Its Israeli subsidiary, Hanson Israel, owns the Nahal Raba quarry, south of Qalqilya in the West Bank.

The quarry sits on land belonging to the Palestinian villages of az-Zawiya and Rafat, according to Who Profits, a group that researches links between the private sector and the economy in the occupied territory. An official Civil Administration Service planning notice reviewed by Al Jazeera shows a proposal was approved to expand the site. According to the company’s website, the firm undertakes “quarrying, grinding and screening of natural dolomite or limestone rock”.

Advertisement Heidelberg has previously told Al Jazeera that Hanson Israel ceased operations at the quarry and its associated plants in 2023. But Who Profits said approval for the expansion of the quarry was granted on May 28, 2025. Heidelberg did not dispute the Who Profits assertion in its response to Al Jazeera’s questions. Motorola Solutions Two contracts, worth about 87,900 pounds ($118,000), have been awarded to Motorola Solutions and its subsidiaries to provide communications for the police service.

Motorola Solutions still accounts for the largest share by value of the contracts Al Jazeera identified, with about 1.7 billion pounds ($2.28bn), most of it through its UK subsidiary Airwave Solutions. The Home Office awarded Airwave an extension worth 1.562 billion pounds ($2.13bn) to provide the secure communications network used by police, fire and ambulance services across England, Scotland and Wales. Motorola Solutions UK separately holds contracts worth 123.9 million pounds ($170m), including a 36.5-million-pound ($49.8m) Ministry of Defence contract for Airwave radios, accessories and airtime.

The UN lists Motorola Solutions for its settlement-related activities, including the provision of security equipment and services. Procurement records reviewed by Al Jazeera show Motorola command-and-control technology used in security and surveillance infrastructure by authorities in the occupied West Bank. Al Jazeera contacted the Motorola Solutions group for comment but received no response. Fosun Chinese conglomerate Fosun International is identified by the UN under the category covering the commercial use of natural resources, particularly water and land.

Its connection to the occupied West Bank centres on Israeli cosmetics manufacturer Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories. In the UK, Breas Medical, which Fosun International owns through Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical, secured a contract worth 98,000 pounds ($131,000) with Hull hospitals. The award brings the total value of public-sector contracts held by the group to at least 1.3 million pounds ($1.74m). Al Jazeera contacted Fosun for comment but received no response.

Egis French engineering group Egis provides another type of connection via transport infrastructure linking illegal Israeli settlements in occupied East Jerusalem with the rest of the city. The UN lists Egis in connection with the “provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements, including transport”. Egis told Al Jazeera it “formally expressed its disagreement with this inclusion” in the UN database.

A new contract worth 84,000 pounds ($113,000) was awarded to Thomas & Adamson International Limited, a subsidiary of Egis. The award brings the total value of public contracts held by Egis and its subsidiaries to at least 133.7 million pounds ($179.3m).