Britain has awarded £10.7 million in new public contracts to companies with links to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, according to an Al Jazeera investigation.
The awards come despite recent UK government commitments to punish companies that profit from settlement activity.
An analysis of procurement data provided by the market intelligence company Tassel shows that businesses named by the UN - along with their subsidiaries - have received 18 additional public contracts since British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced new sanctions powers on September 8 targeting companies that provide services such as construction, infrastructure and real estate for settlement expansion.
The companies "appear to be in breach of their legal obligations under international humanitarian law," Nava Gordon, a professor at Queen Mary University of London's law school, told Al Jazeera in comments.