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Superdrug, the UK's second-largest beauty and health retailer, has blocked a skincare brand from its website after suspected cosmetic ingredients were seen at an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.
Ahava, a cosmetics line sold online by Superdrug until mid-March, denies that it owns a site in a West Bank Israeli settlement called Mitzpe Shalem, or that it functions as a production facility.
It said that, by 2022, "all production activities were consolidated within internationally recognised Israeli territory", that a kibbutz owns the site, and all muds, salts and botanicals "are and have always been collected from undisputed Israeli territory".
Pictures from the site, obtained by researchers from Quaker organisation the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), show vats of chemicals with 2025 and 2026 production or receipt dates printed on the labels, and with best-before dates in the future.
Also pictured are mounds of earth, which the AFSC believes is Dead Sea mud of the kind used in Ahava products.
After being alerted to the pictures, Superdrug removed Ahava from its website.
The products had been sold by a secondary retailer via Superdrug's marketplace, which hosts products from verified sellers.
"We have now removed the SKU [stock keeping unit] and implemented additional system actions that will block and prevent any future listings of this brand from all sellers," a spokesperson told Sky News.
As recently as February, the retailer featured a selection of Ahava items on its site.
Ahava products are still sold on other global and UK-specific websites but it has not had a standalone shop in London since 2011.
What's going on?
The UK government opposes the Israeli-built settlements, including Mitzpe Shalem, believing them to be a threat to a two-state solution and a breach of international law. It has ramped up sanctions on high-profile settlers and some outposts in the past year.
Further action has been sought by the influential Foreign Affairs Committee of MPs, which recommended a ban on imports of goods from illegal settlements in the West Bank.
Similarly, the Business and Trade Committee wrote to the government in February and again in April, asking what it was doing to address illegal settlement trade, noting the approach "stands in stark contrast" to the UK's prohibition of some goods originating from certain areas of Russian-occupied Ukraine.
Palestinians say Israeli settlement economic activity, no matter how small, contributes to settlers confiscating land in the West Bank and takes opportunities away from Palestinian businesses.
Such confiscation can displace Palestinians, which is illegal under the Geneva Convention, as is the moving of Israeli civilians into territory Israel occupies. It is for this reason that Mitzpe Shalem is seen as illegal.
Israel disputes this, saying it cannot be classed as an occupying power, as no country owned the land before Israel took the territory in 1967, and it has not transferred its population to the territories; people move freely.
Contrary to the UN, it sees Mitzpe Shalem as an officially recognised and administered Israeli settlement.
Why does it matter?
When companies have business relationships with settlements, "they are giving legitimacy to the existence of these settlements and allowing their continued expansion", the Palestinian human rights researcher Wesam Ahmad told Sky News.
Israeli settlements on the Dead Sea also limit Palestinian access to the sea and so cut off a potentially lucrative source of revenue for the Palestinian economy, according to Chris Doyle, the director of the Council for Arab British Understanding.
As a result, its economy misses out on potential tourism development and Dead Sea mineral extraction: tourism and mineral extraction alone could provide more than a $1bn boost to the Palestinian economy, a World Bank report from 2013 said.
What's shown?
The images and video taken by the AFSC in February 2026 and shared exclusively with Sky News appear to show activity at the Mitzpe Shalem settlement factory.
In addition to the chemical vats, six cars are seen parked inside locked gates and a back door is open.
In a covert recording made by the AFSC, a staff member at Ahava's Ein Gedi visitor centre in Israel is heard claiming the Mitzpe Shalem centre did not close down and that it processes the mud and salt raw materials, which go to Ein Gedi, where production is done.
However, the photos and video taken by the AFSC do not show machinery in use, and the front gate appears to be locked, with a sign advising visitors of a temporary closure, telling them to go to Ein Gedi (in Israel).
Ahava's website says its factory, laboratories and research centres are all located on the shores of the Dead Sea.
"We are the only cosmetic company to have its facilities in the region," it added.
"As previously communicated publicly, by 2022, all production activities were consolidated within internationally recognised Israeli territory," Ahava's chief executive, Ron Michael, told Sky News.
"We remain committed to transparency, compliance, environmental responsibility, and respectful dialogue."
Ahava had been stocked in John Lewis until 2011 and was sold in a standalone store in Covent Garden until the same year, after protests at the location.
Who owns Ahava?
Both Ahava and its parent company, the Chinese multinational conglomerate Fosun International, were featured for the first time in September on the UN database of companies involved in activities particularly harmful to occupied Palestinian territory, activities that help maintain and enable illegal Israeli settlements.
Ahava told Sky News: "The inclusion of AHAVA in the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' database in September 2025 does not accurately reflect the current factual or legal situation of our operations. We have engaged constructively with the relevant UN bodies and provided extensive clarification and supporting documentation. We are actively working to rectify this classification."
In response, Fosun said: "We want to clarify that Fosun's inclusion in the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights database appears to be based solely on the alleged activities of Ahava, where Fosun holds a non-operating shareholder role.
"Fosun has not exercised operational control over, nor directly participated in, the activities referenced in the database."
The multinational owns a series of British corporates.
"Fosun remains committed to full compliance in the markets in which we operate," the company told Sky News.
What is the AFSC?
The AFSC, which took the images and video, was founded more than a hundred years ago and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947.
As part of its work, it says it works with people of all faiths and backgrounds to challenge unjust systems and promote lasting peace.
It supports the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, targeting institutions that help sustain the occupation of Palestinian territory.
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