A United Nations expert has called on dozens of multinational companies to stop doing business with Israel, warning them they risk being complicit in war crimes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, News.az reports citing Investing.
Francesca Albanese, presenting her report to the UN human rights council, described what she called "an economy of genocide" in which the conflict with Hamas provided a testing ground - with no accountability or oversight - for new weapons and technology.
Israel has rejected her report as "groundless", saying it would "join the dustbin of history".
UN experts, or special rapporteurs, are independent of the UN, but appointed by it to advise on human rights matters.
Ms Albanese is an international lawyer from Italy, and she is known for her bluntness; in previous reports she has suggested that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
On Thursday she repeated that claim, accusing Israel of "committing one of the cruellest genocides in modern history".
In this report Ms Albanese names companies she says are profiting from, and therefore complicit in, war crimes in Gaza.
Her list includes arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin for selling weapons, and tech firms Alphabet, IBM, Microsoft and Amazon for providing technology which allows Israel to track and target Palestinians.
She also lists Caterpillar, Hyundai, and Volvo, which her report claims have supplied vehicles used for demolishing homes and flattening bombed communities.
Financial institutions are included too - Ms Albanese claims banks BNP Paribas and Barclays have been underwriting Israeli treasury bonds throughout the conflict.
The BBC has approached the companies named above for comment.
Lockheed Martin said foreign military sales were government-to-government transactions, and discussions were best addressed by the US government.
Volvo said it did not share Ms Albanese's criticism which it believes was based on "insufficient and partly incorrect information". It added that it is committed to respecting human rights and constantly works to strengthen its due diligence. But it said that since its products have a long life and change hands often "there is unfortunately a limit to how much control or influence we can have on how and where our products are used during their lifetime".
For the companies named, the business is lucrative, the report says, and helps Israel to continue the war. Ms Albanese says all the companies should stop dealing with Israel immediately.
