Norway’s $2-trillion wealth fund, the largest in the world, has divested from US construction equipment giant Caterpillar over the firm’s purported involvement in rights violations perpetrated by the Israeli military in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

The Norwegian central bank said on Monday that it had decided to exclude Caterpillar from the fund, which it manages, “due to an unacceptable risk that the companies contribute to serious violations of the rights of individuals in situations of war and conflict”.

The fund also announced that it had divested from five Israeli banks, based on the recommendation of its council on ethics.

In a statement, the ethics council said that “bulldozers manufactured by Caterpillar are being used by Israeli authorities in the widespread unlawful destru

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