This category of involvement encompasses all commercial activities linked to the establishment, sustainment and expansion of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian and Syrian land.

Since the 1967 military occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan, successive Israeli governments have established civilian colonies, or settlements, on occupied Syrian and Palestinian land and encouraged Israeli citizens and industries to move into them. Presently there are 132 Israeli settlements and 97 additional “outposts” – settlements not yet officially recognized by the Israeli government, in the occupied West Bank (excluding East Jerusalem), and 34 settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan. As of 2017, there were approximately 399,000 Israeli settlers living in the occupied West Bank (excluding Jerusalem), another 208,000 in occupied East Jerusalem, and 26,000 in the occupied Syrian Golan. Israeli civilian construction has been a key instrument in the annexation of occupied land and resources. Ongoing construction includes housing developments as well as extensive infrastructure projects, such as roads and water systems, for the exclusive use of Israeli settlers.

The Israeli settlement enterprise is illegal under international law. Specifically, it violates Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which stipulates that “the Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies,” as well as Article 55 of the Hague Regulations designates the Occupying Power as only the administrator and usufructuary of public immovable properties such as land.

Who Profits has identified three sub-categories of corporate involvement in the Settlement Enterprise: Settlement Products, which refers to agricultural and industrial production in settlements and settlement industrial zones; Construction on Occupied Land, which includes the construction of settlements as well as of related infrastructure; and Services to Settlements, namely the provision of services and utilities to the settlements.