How HSBC’s Sharia fund invested millions in Israeli war-linked firms

O HSBC, segundo maior banco da Europa, investiu os recursos por meio de seu Islamic Global Equity Index Fund em empresas vinculadas à cadeia de suprimentos militar de Israel – desde componentes usados em armas até tecnologia e equipamentos com aplicações militares.

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As empresas vão do gigante tecnológico americano Palantir ao segundo maior fabricante de armamentos do mundo, RTX.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 74,300 Palestinians since October 2023, including nearly 1,500 killed since a “ceasefire” was agreed upon last year.

A guerra do Israel, que devastou o enclave palestino de 2,3 milhões de pessoas, tem provocado condenação global.

Investimentos do fundo HSBC levantam várias questões, incluindo: o dinheiro comercializado como compatível com a lei islâmica pode fluir para empresas vinculadas ao exército israelense.

What is HSBC’s Islamic Global Equity Index Fund.

The bank’s website for the fund says it delivers “both investment returns and better outcomes for society as a whole”, describing its Sharia philosophy as “ethical investments that enhance society”.

It is supposed to exclude businesses and financial practices deemed forbidden under its Islamic law screening rules, with oversight from a Sharia committee.

HSBC diz que possui um Comitê Sharia independente composto por dois estudiosos islâmicos internacionalmente renomados que supervisionam os investimentos no fundo “para garantir a conformidade com os princípios islâmicos”.

Under its own Sharia philosophy that dictates the fund’s investments, as reviewed by Al Jazeera, HSBC says it ensures that a “company has no significant exposure to non-permissible revenue sources such as selling goods or services related to.

Wahyu Jatmiko, a lecturer at the University of Southampton Business School, with a focus on Islamic finance, told Al Jazeera that there are “strong grounds to criticise HSBC’s governance, transparency, and handling of investors’ ethical expectations.”.

To which companies did HSBC channel its Sharia-compliant fund.

Uma análise das atividades do fundo HSBC compatível com a Sharia no primeiro semestre de 2026 revela que o banco adquiriu ações de pelo menos cinco empresas ligadas às guerras do exército israelense no Oriente Médio.

Essas compras foram relatadas pela primeira vez pelas publicações Middle East Eye e Hyphen.

Palantir Technologies, a US data analytics and artificial intelligence company, has faced scrutiny over its support for Israel’s military. In January 2024, the company announced a strategic partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Defence to support “war-related missions” and held a board meeting in Tel Aviv in solidarity with Israel.

Palantir’s software integrates large volumes of data to help military and intelligence agencies analyse information and make operational decisions.

A United Nations report in June 2025 identified Palantir Technologies as expanding its support to the Israeli military since the start of the Gaza war. The report said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe the company provided automatic predictive policing technology used for automated decision-making in the battlefield, to process data and generate lists of targets, including through artificial intelligence systems such as “Lavender”, “Gospel” and “Where’s Daddy?”.

The US military also reportedly relied on Palantir’s systems in falsely identifying a school in the Iranian city of Minab as a target in a strike that killed more than 150 people, mostly children, on February 28 , the first day of the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Figuras seniores das Nações Unidas também argumentaram que tecnologias como a da Palantir determinam o ritmo e a escala em que o exército israelense é capaz de atingir pessoas.

A RTX Corporation é uma empresa de defesa dos EUA cujos negócios incluem a Raytheon, um grande fabricante de mísseis, sistemas de defesa aérea e tecnologias militares.

Through Raytheon, the corporation partners with the Israeli government-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems company to manufacture components and Tamir interceptor missiles for the Iron Dome air-defence system.

Raytheon e a empresa israelense também desenvolveram em conjunto o David’s Sling, outro sistema de defesa antimísseis israelense. Raytheon também fabrica mísseis Tomahawk e sistemas de mísseis MIM-104 Patriot para o exército dos EUA, que foram usados na guerra contra o Irã, além de fornecer componentes para caças da série F que são empregados no território palestino ocupado.

Analog Devices makes electronic components used in surveillance systems, aircraft, and precision-guided munitions.

In July 2025, Irish investigative outlet The Ditch reported that Analog Devices International, the company’s Irish-registered subsidiary, shipped components from its factory in the Philippines to Elbit Systems in August, October and November 2024.

Em junho de 2024, Israel bombardeou a escola al‑Sardi, administrada pela ONU, no campo de refugiados de Nuseirat, no centro de Gaza, matando quase 40 palestinos, incluindo pelo menos 14 crianças e nove mulheres.

A measurement unit from the missile, used to aid with precision targeting, was manufactured by Honeywell, an American conglomerate that specialises in the design and delivery of sensors and guidance devices that are used in a variety of military weapons, an analysis by Al Jazeera had shown.

Its German subsidiary, MTU Aero Engine, has supplied power systems for Israeli military vehicles, including the Merkava tank, Namer armoured personnel carrier, and Eitan armoured vehicle.

How did HSBC’s Sharia fund greenlight weapons firms.

Islamic finance experts explained to Al Jazeera that there are multiple industry standards, at times specific to benchmarks, on what comes under Sharia-compliant funds, especially as they are left to the interpretation of scholars.

Muhammed Ebrahim, professor de finanças na Escola de Negócios da Universidade de Durham, afirmou que há uma “critical gap” no processo de triagem que avalia as atividades principais declaradas da empresa, e não o uso final de seus produtos ou seus clientes.

However, an investment can technically be Sharia-compliant, but ethically incompatible with Islamic principles, and “the HSBC case illustrates this gap starkly,” he said.

Ebrahim argues that screening should trigger a threshold over any involvement in weapons production or military contracting, review any indirect involvement, and trace the end-use of products.

HSBC falhou com seus clientes muçulmanos ao investir em empresas vinculadas ao exército israelense, disse Ebrahim.

Ebrahim e Jatmiko concordaram em uma questão central: que a finança islâmica terceiriza “juízo ético a provedores de triagem cujas metodologias são opacas e cujas definições são estreitas”.

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• A guerra do Israel, que devastou o enclave palestino de 2,3 milhões de pessoas, tem provocado condenação global