JCB is the world’s third largest construction equipment manufacturer, which manufactures equipment used in the agricultural, construction and defense industries.

Involvement and Involvement of subsidiaries

JCB equipment has been repeatedly in use by Israel in demolitions of Palestinian homes and in the construction of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt).

Dozens of documented incidents show JCB equipment involved in Israeli demolitions of Palestinians’ residential, religious, agricultural and commercial buildings, as well as water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure, uprooting of trees and destruction of graves.

According to Amnesty International, JCB equipment was used in Israeli activities resulting in human rights violations documented in the oPt between 2011 and 2021.

In December 2022, JCB equipment was documented in demolitions in occupied East Jerusalem and in adjacent areas.

On May 11, 2022, Civil Administration personnel arrived with a military and Border Police escort and equipped with two JCB bulldozers at the village of a-Tuwani in the Masafer Yatta area in the South Hebron Hills, occupied West Bank, where they demolished a house under construction intended for a family of nine, including seven minors. As of January 2023, more than 1,000 of the area’s residents are facing expulsion, approved by Israel’s High Court, for the designation of their land to be used as an Israeli military Firing Zone.

On December 13, 2022, company equipment was used in the demolition of four Palestinian-owned homes in the village of al-Jiftlik, north of Jericho, in the occupied West Bank. Also in December 2021, JCB equipment was documented in demolitions in the occupied East Jerusalem area.

In November 2021, JCB equipment was used in house demolitions in occupied East Jerusalem. In October 2021, JCB equipment was used in demolitions in Al-Yousefiyah cemetery, the oldest Muslim cemetery in the old city of Jerusalem as part of the construction of a new park.

In October 2021, JCB equipment was used in demolition of water pipes supplying water to Al Samoa town in South Hebron Hills, in cooperation with Israeli national water company “Mekorot”.

On July 7, 2021, JCB machinery was used in demolitions in Khirbet Humsah, a Palestinian community located in the northern Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank. The demolition included 13 residential and 17 agricultural structures belonging to the community, as well as 4 water tanks, water pipes, fencing, and farming equipment. The community, living off agriculture, has suffered multiple demolition incidents resulting in denial of water.

On October 25, 2021, ICA officials equipped with JCB bulldozer accompanied by soldiers and Border Police officers destroyed a dirt road connecting the community of Khirbet Khilet a-Dabe’ to the community of al-Fakhit, and destroyed the main water line that ran alongside it, which serves most of the communities in Masafer Yatta.

On March 17, 2021, JCB equipment was used in the demolition of a residential shack and 10 tents used by 11 families, consisting of 66 people, in a-Nuwei’mah.

On January 28, 2021, JCB equipment was used in the demolition of 3 tents housing two families of 13 people, along with agricultural structures and equipment for keeping livestock in Wadi-al-Ahmar.

On January 27, 2021, JCB equipment was used in the demolition of a mosque under construction in Um Qusah. On the same day, JCB equipment was also used in the uprooting of 3,000 forest trees and 130 olive and almond trees in Khirbet ‘Einun in the southern West Bank.

On December 1^st, 2020, JCB equipment was used in demolition of a cave and two fabricated buildings used for agricultural purposes in Tal Zif in Hebron district.

On November 25, 2020, company equipment was used in the demolition of a tent in Masafer Yatta area in the South Hebron Hills. In November 2020, company equipment was used in the demolition of water tanks and water lines in Massafer Yatta.

On August 11, 2020, company equipment was used in the demolition of a house in Yatta in the West Bank.

On June 24, 2020, JCB equipment was used by ICA personnel for uprooting of some 70 six-year-old olive trees belonging to a family in the Bardala in the in the northern Jordan Valley. On February 6 2019, JCB equipment was used in the uprooting of 450 olive trees in the village of Bardala in the northern Jordan Valley.

On February 21, 2018, JCB bulldozer was documented in the removal of trees near the entrance to the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba in the West Bank. The bulldozer was guarded by Israeli border police officers.

House demolitions were also executed using the company’s equipment in the Palestinian villages of Khan al-Akhmar, al-Mufagarah, Dkeika, Bir al-Eid, Lasefer and Umm Fagarah in the South Hebron Hills, in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Silwan and al-Suwaneh and in the Jordan Valley. The wheel loaders models used for these demolitions are 456e ZX and 3CX.

Settlement Expansion

JCB heavy machinery equipment is regularly used in the construction of settlements, settlement industrial zones and infrastructure projects on occupied Palestinian and Syrian land.

On November 16, 2020, JCB equipment was documented in the construction site of the Givat Hamatos settlement neighborhood in East Jerusalem. On Nov 15, 2020, JCB machinery was documented in Beit Safafa working on land slated for new illegal settlement.

Between 2009 and 2013, JCB loaders and excavators were used for the construction of housing projects in the West Bank Israeli settlements of Alfei Menashe, Oranit, Ma’ale Adumim and Tzufin; in the settlement neighborhood of Har Homa in East Jerusalem; and for the construction and expansion of Kalia settlement’s beach in the occupied Dead Sea area, and in the Barkan and Ariel West settlement industrial zones in the West Bank. In addition, JCB machinery was used for construction projects in the occupied Syrian Golan.

The Jerusalem Light Rail

In February 2021, Who Profits documented JCB equipment in the construction of the Jerusalem Light Rail (JLR) in the French Hill and in Ramat Shlomo settlement in occupied East Jerusalem. Company equipment was also used in the construction of the JLR station in the settlement neighborhood of Pisgat Ze’ev in occupied East Jerusalem. The JLR network connects large settlement blocks in occupied East Jerusalem to the center of the city and its western side, creating territorial continuity and easing settler movement on both sides of the Green Line.

JCB machinery was also used in the construction of the A1 high-speed railway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, which crosses the Green Line in two places.

Services to the Israeli Ministry of Defense

JCB supplies military engineering tools to the Israeli military, including its High Mobility Engineer Excavator (HMEE) and 1CX mini backhoe loader. The armored HMEE was modified according to the requirements of the Israeli military and sold to it through the American Foreign Military Sales program. The 1CX mini loader is used by the Israeli military for urban warfare in the oPt.

JCB equipment is sold to the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD) through an Israeli intermediary, Comasco Ltd., JCB’s Israeli importer and distributor.

According to the response on a Freedom of Information request submitted by Who Profits in February 2021, regarding the purchase of JCB equipment by the IMOD, Who Profits attained 13 contracts with Comasco for the years 2019-2021 for JCB heavy equipment maintenance services, JCB spare parts provision and for the purchase of JCB Backhoe loader vehicle and a telescopic handler, in total amount of NIS 1.56 million.

Wall and checkpoints

The company’s engineering equipment also contributed to the construction of the wall and checkpoints.

JCB machinery was used in the construction of technologized aboveground, underground and underwater walls around the besieged Gaza. Completed in 2021, the project includes 65 km of an underground wall with technological detection means, a physical fence, a sea barrier, a detection array and combat rooms. These are another layer to the suffocating siege imposed on Gaza for over 15 years.

Track and wheel excavators and wheel loaders were documented during the construction of the wall near the Palestinian villages of Al-Walaja, Anata and Beit Jala and at the Qalandiya and Ofer checkpoints. The models used for these tasks are JS330, JS200, 537 and 3CX.

Services to Israel police

In 2021, JCB’s Israeli distributor Comasco was contracted by the Israeli Police, with an exemption from tender, to provide JBC 3CX SITEMASTER Tractor maintenance services and spare parts purchase until 2024 for 210,000 NIS.

On 12 November 2021, the UK national contact point (UK NCP) for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, has published a final statement on a complaint that alleged JCB’s responsibility for human rights abuses carried out using JCB equipment.

The statement determines that while JCB has some leverage over Comasco due to its business relationships, no proof was provided that JCB products used for human rights violations were sold to the direct perpetrators (authorities or contractors) by Comasco (rather than by third parties). It also stated that the complex chain of supply in those kind of products makes it very difficult to ascertain JCB or Comasco complicity in the alleged human rights violations.

Additionally, the UK NCP concluded that JCB did not fully observe the Guidelines under paragraph 4 of Chapter IV by not having a policy commitment to respect human rights. The UK NCP also found that JCB did not observe its obligations under paragraph 5 of Chapter IV by not carrying out human rights due diligence in its supply chain.

JCB machinery during house demolition | Umm Fajara, West Bank | Nov 2011 | Video by OpCol