Necva Tastan Sevinc
05 June 2026•Update: 05 June 2026
UK health and beauty retailer Superdrug has removed skincare brand Ahava from its online marketplace after researchers raised concerns about the company's alleged links to Israel's illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, local media reported on Friday.
The move came after the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker organization, shared images that it said showed activity at a site in the Israeli settlement of Mitzpe Shalem, where cosmetic ingredients used in Ahava products may be processed.
Superdrug said the products had been sold through a third-party seller on its marketplace platform.
“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 company spokesperson told Sky News.
Ahava denied operating a production facility in Mitzpe Shalem and said all manufacturing activities had been moved to internationally recognized Israeli territory.
“As previously communicated publicly, by 2022, all production activities were consolidated within internationally recognized Israeli territory,” Ahava Chief Executive Ron Michael said.
The company added that “all muds, salts and botanicals are and have always been collected from undisputed Israeli territory.”
Images obtained by AFSC reportedly showed containers bearing production and receipt dates from 2025 and 2026, as well as piles of earth that researchers believe may be Dead Sea mud used in Ahava cosmetics.
In a recording, an employee at Ahava’s visitor center in Ein Gedi reportedly said the Mitzpe Shalem site continues to process raw mud and salt materials before they are transferred elsewhere for production.
The UK government considers Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank illegal under international law and says they undermine prospects for a two-state solution. Israel disputes that interpretation.
The case comes amid growing scrutiny of trade linked to Israeli settlements. The UK parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee has recommended banning imports from illegal settlements, while the Business and Trade Committee has pressed the government on its approach to settlement-related commerce.
Ahava and its parent company, the Chinese conglomerate Fosun International, were added in 2025 to a UN database of companies involved in activities linked to Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.
