AI, arms, and infrastructure: How 15 companies fuel Gaza violence

Agnes Callamard, Secretary-General of Amnesty International, stated that it is time for countries, government institutions, companies, universities, and other private entities to end their deadly addiction to profit and economic gain at any cost.

She added that without the deep and sustained support Israel has received through its economic and commercial relationships, the 57-year illegal occupation would not have lasted, the apartheid system could not have taken root over decades, and 23 months of continuous bombing and genocide would not have been possible without the continuous supply of weapons and surveillance equipment from governments and companies indifferent to these crimes.

She emphasized that this must stop immediately. Human dignity is not a commodity. While Palestinian mothers in Gaza are forced to watch their children starve under Israel’s genocidal pressures, arms companies and others continue to pocket enormous profits. Amnesty International called on all its members and supporters worldwide to demand an immediate end to the political economy underpinning Israel’s international crimes.

In this report, Amnesty International named 15 Israeli and international companies involved in Israel’s illegal occupation, genocide, or other crimes under international law.

This list includes American multinational companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin; Israeli arms companies Elbit Systems, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI); Chinese company Hikvision; Spanish company Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF); South Korean company HD Hyundai; American software company Palantir Technologies; Israeli tech company CORSIGHT; and the Israeli state water company Mekorot.

Palantir Technologies, an American AI company, provides products and services related to Israel’s military activities in Gaza to the Israeli army and intelligence services.

Mekorot, by managing water infrastructure and networks in the West Bank in ways that discriminate against Palestinians and serve illegal Israeli settlements, participates in Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories.

CAF supports the Jerusalem light rail project, which facilitates the expansion of Israeli settlements, while HD Hyundai produces and maintains heavy machinery and equipment used in illegal demolitions in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Amnesty International stressed that these 15 companies are only a small sample of those responsible for supporting the regime, which has engineered famine, mass killings of civilians, and the deprivation of Palestinians’ basic rights for decades.

Amnesty International issued this urgent appeal to countries and companies on the anniversary of the adoption of UN General Assembly Resolution 18 September 2024, which called on Israel to end its illegal occupation of Palestinian territories within 12 months.

The organization concluded by calling on countries worldwide to immediately ban the supply of all weapons, military and security equipment, as well as surveillance technologies, artificial intelligence systems, and cloud infrastructure used to support Israel’s surveillance, security, and military operations.