Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) is the world’s largest shipbuilder and among the top five manufacturers in other heavy industries.

The company’s construction equipment division manufactures excavators, wheel loaders, skid steer loaders and forklift trucks, which are distributed in Israel through Efco Equipment -a large Israeli importer of construction machinery.

Hyundai’s track excavators were used in many house demolitions in the Palestinian neighborhoods of Beit Hanina, Silwan, Tsur Baher, Issawiya and At-Tur in East Jerusalem. The company’s tools also preformed demolitions in Beit Jala and in the villages of Jawaya and Derath in the South Hebron Hills.

Hyundai excavators were documented during construction works in the settlement of Halamish and in the Barkan Industrial Zone. They were also used in June 2016 in construction work by the Sarfati Simon construction company in the Pisgat Zeev settlement neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem.

On September 7th of 2016, the company was documented demolishing the house of Mr. Bassam Jamil Ibrahim in the village of Majdal Shams in the occupied Syrian Golan, reducing it to concrete rubble. On November 8th 2016, the company was documented again demolishing another Palestinian house in Issawiyya, a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

On 2 January 2017, Hyundai heavy machinery was documented during settlment construction work in the Salfit area of the occupied West Bank (near Ariel settlement). On 4 February 2017, the company was documented paving a new settler-only road in the West Bank, the Nabi Elias bypass road. Approximately 700 olive trees belonging to Palestinians in the area are slated to be uprooted for the construction of the road.

The models used for all of these tasks are: 320LC-7, 320LC-9, 290LC-9 and 450LC-3.

Hyundai excavators during a house demolition | Silwan, occupied East Jerusalem | Nov 2009 | Video by Mahmoud Qaraeen