UK public bodies have awarded £10.7 million in new contracts to companies linked to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, despite the Government’s pledge to sanction businesses profiting from settlement activity.
The contracts were published after Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced on September 8 that the UK would take action against companies and individuals providing construction, infrastructure, financing and real estate services to settlements, which are illegal under international law.
An analysis of procurement records, company filings and disclosures, alongside contract data supplied by public-sector market intelligence firm Tussell, identified 18 contracts involving businesses named by the United Nations over settlement-related activities or subsidiaries ultimately owned or controlled by them.
Neve Gordon, a professor at Queen Mary University of London’s school of law, said the companies “appear to be in breach of their legal obligations under international humanitarian law”.
“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,” he said.
The findings follow an earlier review which found that at least 17 companies connected to Israeli settlements had secured more than £2.1 billion in UK public-sector contracts.
Mr Miliband told the House of Commons in September: “To those who finance or facilitate illegal settlements, let me say this: you will face the full force of UK sanctions … Settlements are illegal.”
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the continued awarding of contracts undermined the Government’s position.
“Britain cannot credibly claim that it is imposing sanctions on Israeli settlements while letting contracts continue through the back door,” he said. “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.”
The Cabinet Office did not respond to a request for comment. It has previously said that individual public authorities decide whether to exclude suppliers on a case-by-case basis, and that UK procurement rules should not be used to boycott companies linked to other countries unless formal sanctions, embargoes or restrictions are in place.
Heidelberg Materials contracts make up most of the new awards
German building materials group Heidelberg Materials accounted for £10.4 million of the contracts identified. Three of its subsidiaries were awarded 14 deals, mainly for roadworks and resurfacing carried out for National Highways and councils in Nottingham and Lincolnshire.
The group has secured at least 35 UK contracts worth about £194.7 million through five subsidiaries.
Heidelberg Materials was included in the UN’s September 2026 settlement index update over the commercial use of natural resources in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Its Israeli subsidiary, Hanson Israel, owns the Nahal Raba quarry south of Qalqilya in the West Bank. The quarry is on land belonging to the Palestinian villages of az-Zawiya and Rafat, according to Who Profits, a group examining business links to the economy in the occupied territory.
A planning notice reviewed as part of the analysis showed that a proposal to expand the site had been approved. Heidelberg Materials has previously said Hanson Israel stopped operating the quarry and associated plants in 2023, but did not dispute the assertion that expansion approval was granted on May 28 2025.
Motorola, Fosun and Egis also linked to new deals
Motorola Solutions and its subsidiaries received two contracts worth about £87,900 to provide communications for a police service.
The company has accounted for the largest share by value of contracts identified in the wider review, at about £1.7 billion, most of it through UK subsidiary Airwave Solutions. The Home Office awarded Airwave a £1.562 billion extension for the secure communications network used by police, fire and ambulance services across England, Scotland and Wales.
The UN lists Motorola Solutions over settlement-related activities, including the provision of security equipment and services. Procurement records showed its command-and-control technology being used in security and surveillance infrastructure in the occupied West Bank. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Chinese conglomerate Fosun International was also identified by the UN in connection with the commercial use of natural resources, including water and land. Its connection to the West Bank centres on Israeli cosmetics manufacturer Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories.
Fosun-owned Breas Medical secured a £98,000 contract with hospitals in Hull, taking the group’s UK public-sector contract total to at least £1.3 million. Fosun did not respond to a request for comment.
French engineering company Egis, which the UN links to transport infrastructure supporting settlements in occupied East Jerusalem, was connected to an £84,000 award to its subsidiary Thomas & Adamson International Limited.
The deal takes the value of UK public contracts held by Egis and its subsidiaries to at least £133.7 million. Egis said it had “formally expressed its disagreement with this inclusion” in the UN database.
