GENEVA (20 June 2024) – The transfer of weapons and ammunition to Israel may constitute serious violations of human
rights and international humanitarian laws and risk State complicity in international crimes, possibly including
genocide, UN experts said today, reiterating their demand to stop transfers immediately.
In line with recent calls from the Human Rights Council and the independent UN experts to States to cease the sale,
transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel, arms manufacturers supplying Israel –
including BAE Systems, Boeing, Caterpillar, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Oshkosh, Rheinmetall
AG, Rolls-Royce Power Systems, RTX, and ThyssenKrupp – should also end transfers, even if they are executed under
existing export licenses.
“These companies, by sending weapons, parts, components, and ammunition to Israeli forces, risk being complicit in
serious violations of international human rights and international humanitarian laws,” the experts said. This risk is
heightened by the recent decision from the International Court of Justice ordering Israel to immediately halt its
military offensive in Rafah, having recognised genocide as a plausible risk, as well as the request filed by the
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court seeking arrest warrants for Israeli leaders on allegations of war crimes
and crimes against humanity. “In this context, continuing arms transfers to Israel may be seen as knowingly providing
assistance for operations that contravene international human rights and international humanitarian laws and may result
in profit from such assistance.”
An end to transfers must include indirect transfers through intermediary countries that could ultimately be used by
Israeli forces, particularly in the ongoing attacks on Gaza. The UN experts said that arms companies must systematically
and periodically conduct enhanced human rights due diligence to ensure that their products are not used in ways that
violate international human rights and international humanitarian laws.
Financial institutions investing in these arms companies are also called to account. Investors such as Alfried Krupp von
Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung, Amundi Asset Management, Bank of America, BlackRock, Capital Group, Causeway Capital
Management, Citigroup, Fidelity Management & Research, INVESCO Ltd, JP Morgan Chase, Harris Associates, Morgan Stanley, Norges Bank Investment Management, Newport
Group, Raven'swing Asset Management, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, State Street Corporation, Union Investment
Privatfonds, The Vanguard Group, Wellington and Wells Fargo & Company, are urged to take action. Failure to prevent or mitigate their business relationships with these arms
manufacturers transferring arms to Israel could move from being directly linked to human rights abuses to contributing
to them, with repercussions for complicity in potential atrocity crimes, the experts said.
“Arms initiate, sustain, exacerbate, and prolong armed conflicts, as well as other forms of oppression, hence the
availability of arms is an essential precondition for the commission of war crimes and violations of human rights,
including by private armament companies,” said the experts.
They said the ongoing Israeli military assault is characterised by indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on the
civilian population and infrastructure, including through extensive use of explosive and incendiary weapons in densely
populated areas, as well as in the destruction and damage of essential and life-sustaining essential civilian
infrastructure, including housing and shelters, health, education, water and sanitation facilities. These attacks have
resulted in more than 37,000 deaths in Gaza and 84,000 injured. Of these deaths and injuries, an estimated 70 per cent
are women and children. Today, children in Gaza are the largest group of amputee children in the world due to grave
injuries sustained in the war. These operations have also resulted in severe environmental and climate damages.
“The imperative for an arms embargo on Israel and for investors to take decisive action is more urgent than ever,
particularly in light of states' obligations and companies' responsibilities under the Geneva Conventions, the Genocide
Convention, the international human rights treaties, and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,” the UN
experts said.
The experts paid tribute to the sustained work of journalists who have been documenting and reporting on the devastating
impact of these weapons systems on civilians in Gaza, and human rights defenders and lawyers, among other stakeholders,
who are dedicated to holding States and companies accountable for the transfer of weapons to Israel.
They have also engaged with States, as well as the involved businesses and investors on these issues.