Norway's sovereign wealth fund said Monday that it had divested from US construction equipment firm Caterpillar over purported involvement in rights violations in the Israel-Hamas war.

Fuelled by Norway's vast energy revenues, the fund is the world's biggest, with a value of nearly $2 trillion and investments in more than 8,600 companies across the globe.

The fund had held a 1.2 percent stake in Caterpillar, valued at 24.4 billion krone ($2.4 billion), as of the end of last year.

The Norwegian central bank, which manages the fund, said it had decided to exclude Caterpillar as it posed "an unacceptable risk... to serious violations of the rights of individuals in situations of war and conflict".

The fund said it had based its decision on a recommendation by its council on ethics.

In a

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