Twenty-two years after the Israeli army crushed American activist Rachel Corrie to death with a D9 during a home demolition in Gaza, Israel is using the same machines to destroy Palestinian homes at an unprecedented clip
(Washington D.C., March 18, 2025) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing should investigate U.S. company Caterpillar Inc.'s role in Israel's systematic destruction of Palestinian homes in Gaza, said DAWN today in a communication to the current UN mandate holder, Balakrishnan Rajagopal. Twenty-two years ago this week, an Israeli military operated D9 bulldozer crushed to death human rights activist Rachel Corrie in the Gaza Strip while she was attempting to stop the demolition of a Palestinian home. No one has been held responsible for her killing.
"The unthinkable scale of Israel's destruction of Palestinian homes in Gaza over the past 17 months should throw up a massive red flag to halt the export of Caterpillar bulldozers it has been using to do so," said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of DAWN. "Every D9 bulldozer that Caterpillar sends to the Israeli army is likely to be used as an instrument for the wonton destruction of civilian homes and infrastructure, a war crime in the Rome Statue and under the Geneva Conventions."
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), the U.S. government agency responsible for approving foreign military sales, announced its approval of a $295 million sale by Caterpillar to Israel on February 28, 2025. Section 502B(a)(2) of Foreign Assistance Act prohibits security assistance to "any country the government of which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights." Israel's massive destruction of homes in Gaza since October 7, 2023, along with statements from Israeli officials indicating they plan to destroy far more civilian infrastructure in the territory for the purposes of forcible displacement, demonstrates that replenishing the supply of D9 bulldozers will facilitate the mass destruction of Palestinian homes, and harm, kill or injure Palestinians. DAWN urges the DSCA to rescind its approval for this foreign military sale.
"Accountability measures in the United States may seem impossible right now, but officials at the DSCA should keep in mind that the ICC has jurisdiction over international crimes committed in Palestine," said Raed Jarrar, advocacy director at DAWN. "The decision to send these D9s to Israel, while its genocide in Gaza continues, could make them liable for aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes under the Rome Statute."
In 2022, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing Balakrishnan Rajagopal urged the international community to recognize a distinct international crime of domicide, "the massive and deliberate destruction of homes in order to cause human suffering," and "the systematic violation of housing rights in violation of international law." According to a January 2025 report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israel's war in Gaza has destroyed or damaged 92% of housing units in the territory. Most of that damage was caused by conventional arms and munitions, including airstrikes, but Israel has also deployed large numbers of combat engineering units equipped with Caterpillar D9 bulldozers to help clear entire neighborhoods.
"Caterpillar and the United States should have stopped sending Israel D9s 22 years ago when an Israeli soldier crushed to death American activist Rachel Corrie while she tried to stop a home demolition in Gaza," said Jarrar. "After more than two decades of the U.S. and Caterpillar failing to end their complicity in these human rights violations and crimes, international actors like the UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing should examine their obligations and potential liabilities."
DAWN urges Rajagopal to investigate the role of private companies like U.S.-based Caterpillar Inc. for their complicity in and facilitation of the systematic destruction of civilian homes and infrastructure. Under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, companies have a responsibility to conduct rigorous due diligence to ensure their operations do not cause or contribute to adverse human rights impacts. Among other aspects, the special rapporteur should determine whether Caterpillar, by continuing to sell D9 bulldozers to the Israeli military, is knowingly contributing to the indiscriminate destruction of Palestinian homes, a violation of international law and a grave breach of article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Additionally, DAWN calls on third-states such as Mexico, where Caterpillar reportedly manufactures key components of the D9 bulldozer, to investigate whether those transactions align with its own domestic and international human rights obligations.
"Particularly at a moment when the U.S. government is at the forefront of attempts to dismantle international law and international human rights obligations, third states and multinational corporations should fulfil their obligations to uphold the norms built over centuries to prevent the endless repetition of atrocious crimes," said Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, director of research for Israel-Palestine at DAWN. "Caterpillar is chasing after a few extra dollars in profit knowing full well that Palestinians will pay with their lives and the destruction of their homes."
Caterpillar is not alone in providing heavy construction equipment to Israel that it then uses for illegal home demolitions. In March 2023, DAWN and Amnesty International urged Hyundai Construction Equipment to take immediate action to prevent Israel from continuing to use its excavators in the demolition of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank. Specifically, the organizations called on Hyundai CE to suspend the distribution of its machinery in Israel until the latter ensures that they are not used for unlawful activities. Hyundai CE never responded, nor does it appear to have changed its exports or licenses for Israel.
