Airbnb is facing serious legal heat as human rights groups demand the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) launch a criminal investigation into the global rental giant over alleged money laundering links to Israeli settlements.
According to a damning new complaint, Airbnb have breached UK anti-money laundering laws by listing more than 300 holiday rentals in illegal Israeli settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem - territories widely recognised as occupied under international law.
The complaint, brought forward by the UK-based Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and Palestinian rights organisation Al-Haq, was officially filed with the NCA on Tuesday.
The groups accuse Airbnb's UK arm of handling profits from crimes committed under international law - namely, the ongoing occupation of Palestinian land.
But Airbnb's operations in the region are no secret. In fact, the company appears on the United Nation's blacklist of companies involved in activities tied to Israeli settlements - areas the UN, and now the International Court of Justice (ICJ), have declared illegal.
