West Bank Ties: UK Agencies Award Millions to Linked Firms

British taxpayers are funding roadworks, hospital supplies, and police communications through firms that maintain business operations in the occupied West Bank. Public procurement data released in late 2026 indicates that agencies across the UK have granted over $14 million in new work to subsidiaries of companies identified by the United Nations as benefiting from illegal settlements.

The flow of public funds began after a surge in scrutiny of corporate links to the region. In August, an earlier review found that at least 17 settlement-linked businesses had secured UK government work valued at more than 2.1 billion pounds. This pattern persisted into the fall as agencies continued to issue tenders to these specific corporate families.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband addressed the issue on September 8, 2026, during a session of the House of Commons. He declared that the government would utilize new statutory powers to penalize individuals and companies profiting from settlement expansion. Miliband warned that those facilitating the process would face the full scope of UK sanctions.

Since that parliamentary statement, official records show 18 additional contracts awarded to firms with settlement connections. Neve Gordon, a professor at Queen Mary University of London, argued that these engagements appear to violate international humanitarian law. He stated that UK companies involved in the occupation are likely in direct breach of the sanctions regime currently being implemented.

Heidelberg Materials, a German building materials group, represents the largest portion of these recent awards. Three of its subsidiaries won 14 contracts totaling approximately $14.5 million, primarily for road construction projects in central and eastern England. The group holds at least 35 UK contracts worth about $261 million across five entities. Its Israeli subsidiary, Hanson Israel, owns a quarry on land belonging to Palestinian villages, though the company reported ceasing operations there in 2023.

Other major recipients include Motorola Solutions, which provides communications equipment for police forces. The firm won new contracts worth about $118,000, adding to its total portfolio of approximately $2.28 billion in identified UK contracts. Much of this value flows through its UK subsidiary, Airwave Solutions, which operates the secure communications network for emergency services in England, Scotland, and Wales. The UN lists Motorola for supplying security equipment used in the West Bank.

Chinese conglomerate Fosun International also secured new work through its subsidiary Breas Medical, which obtained a $131,000 contract with hospitals in Hull. This brings the total value of public sector contracts held by the Fosun group to at least $1.74 million. Fosun did not respond to requests for comment regarding the award.

French engineering group Egis won a contract through its subsidiary Thomas & Adamson International Limited for $113,000. This adds to the group's total of at least $179.3 million in UK public contracts. Egis told Al Jazeera that it formally expressed disagreement with its inclusion in the UN database. The Cabinet Office, which oversees government procurement, stated that individual public authorities decide on supplier exclusions on a case-by-case basis.