This article discusses the human rights obligations of corporations that operate in bilateral zones of conflict. It analyzes the commercial activity of Israeli corporations in the Palestinian Gaza Strip from within the framework of the evolving jurisprudence on the human rights obligations of corporations.
In recent years, greater attention has been paid to the role of commercial entities in violent contexts whose activities may, directly or indirectly, implicate issues of human rights or international humanitarian law. International human rights law establishes a set of norms and obligations that are mainly enforced in relations among states or between states and their citizens.
Unlike states, private commercial corporations are generally not treated mas bearing direct human rights obligations under international law; human rights law applies only in a limited way to these corporations. Similarly, international humanitarian law, although increasingly applied to non-state actors, has yet to be applied directly to privately-owned companies.