HD Hyundai machinery has been widely used in demolitions of Palestinian-owned structures in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), according to new visual and testimonial evidence documented by Amnesty International Korea and local human rights groups.
While the company denies their involvement, images and videos verified by the groups identified 59 Palestinian-owned homes, businesses and other structures that were demolished between September 2019 and February 2025 using machinery made by the South Korea conglomerate.
These demolitions resulted in the forced displacement of approximately 250 Palestinians and damaged the livelihoods of hundreds of others.
“It is imperative that HD Hyundai takes decisive action to immediately suspend distribution of its products in Israel and conduct heightened due diligence to ensure its operations, products or services do not perpetuate human rights abuses,”
Montse Ferrer, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director
For its investigation, Amnesty International Korea in collaboration with the Evidence Lab, Amnesty International’s digital investigations team, verified a total of 347 images and videos of demolitions obtained through partnerships with local organizations.
Amnesty International Korea, in collaboration with the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, also gathered testimonies from victims whose homes and businesses were destroyed by HD Hyundai bulldozers in eight instances across the West Bank.
One resident, a plumber named Yaaqoub Barqan, described how the Israeli military turned his home into rubble in July 2024.
“About 30 armed soldiers arrived in military jeeps, along with three pieces of heavy equipment, including a Hyundai excavator. The excavator destroyed the house in less than 20 minutes. My wife fainted watching our home being destroyed and is still receiving psychiatric treatment,” he said.
“My wife fainted watching our home being destroyed and is still receiving psychiatric treatment”
Yaaqoub Barqan
These findings follow research from March 2023 in which Amnesty International and Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) documented five instances where Israeli forces used excavators manufactured by Hyundai Construction Equipment (Hyundai CE) to raze Palestinian property that displaced at least 15 Palestinians in Masafer Yatta, an area south of the occupied West Bank where Palestinians live under imminent threat of mass expulsion.
In March 2024, in a response to media inquiries, HD Hyundai claimed it had reviewed its dealer’s records and asserted that there were no sales records to government agencies, such as for demolition work in Israel, and that compliance regulations were followed.
However, Amnesty International Korea’s latest research revealed at least 32 shipments of HD Hyundai heavy machinery to Israeli distributor EFCO were made between October 2021 and October 2023 along with 12 shipments of Hyundai Infracore equipment to Emcol Ltd, Hyundai Infracore’s major distributor in Israel.
Amnesty International Korea first contacted HD Hyundai in March 2023, and then again in October 2024 and March 2025, to inform the company about the use of its machinery in unlawful demolitions in the OPT. On 17 March 2025, Hyundai Infracore, Emcol and EFCO were contacted.
HD Hyundai XiteSolution, the parent company of HD Hyundai CE and HD Hyundai Infracore, responded on 25 March 2025 saying that it “has no involvement with activities in said conflict regions”. The company did not respond directly to questions posed by Amnesty International Korea. Emcol and EFCO did not respond.
“HD Hyundai Group, like any corporate actor, must respect human rights throughout its operations. It must do more to guarantee that its machinery is not being used in the destruction of homes and livelihoods in the OPT, especially as demolitions are a key tool in upholding Israel’s system of apartheid,” Montse Ferrer said.
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