Are barcodes that begin with '729' products from Israel, as BDS advocates claim?

The ceasefire deal agreed by Israel and Hamas in early October is unlikely to dispel longstanding calls for the boycott of Israeli products, which fit into the wider Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Online users, including French MEP Manon Aubry, co-leader of the left in the European Parliament and a member of the France Unbowed party, have relayed a claim alleging that barcodes beginning with the digits "729" are produced in Israel.

"Check your purchases: barcodes beginning with 729 = Israeli products", stated Aubry in an X post shared on 27 September, which has been viewed more than one million times.

However, GS1, the organisation which monitors international standards for barcodes, told The Cube that the first three numbers on a barcode do not identify where a product has been produced.

"The prefix of a GS1 barcode number (its first three digits) only indicates the GS1 Member Organisation that has licensed the number to a manufacturer", a spokesperson for GS1 told Euronews.

The GS1 website lists the prefixes associated with each member organisation, stipulating that the "729" digits mean a barcode was allocated in Israel.

Despite this, companies across the world can choose any of GS1's 120 member organisations they want to be affiliated with, regardless of where they are based or where they manufacture their products.

This means that although many Israeli companies are likely to use this code, products are not necessarily produced there.

GS1 declined to comment on the possible reasons that a company could choose to register itself with a member organisation in a country where they do not produce goods.

However, possible reasons include a desire to establish themselves in a local market or to target certain online platforms.

Israeli companies are also free to affiliate themselves with another GS1 Member Organisation, which could allow them to circumvent boycotts.

What is the BDS movement?

The global BDS movement was launched in 2005 by more than 170 Palestinian civil society organisations and was "inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement" with the goal of urging "action to pressure Israel to comply with international law".

The BDS campaign has a range of aims, which include denouncing Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories, as well as supporting the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

The movement backs boycotting Israeli-linked corporations and the boycott of Israeli academics and cultural institutions.

Critics have branded this strategy as a discriminatory form of collective punishment, which consists of holding all actors and individuals responsible for the actions of the Israeli government. Others have qualified it as antisemitic.

Tensions between Israel's government and MEPs have previously been spurred on by politicians' boycott calls.

In February, Rima Hassan — a Franco-Palestinian MEP who was born in a refugee camp and arrived in France aged 10 years old — was denied entry into Israel, with authorities citing her support for boycotts against the country.

A controversial figure, Hassan has been questioned by French authorities following complaints filed by Jewish organisations, who accused her of "glorifying terrorism", in light of comments she made about Hamas.

Hassan has hit back against the complaints, accusing "the same propaganda network of the Israeli regime", which includes the Jewish Observatory of France, of working against her.

More than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed over the course of Israel's war with Hamas, as of 6 October, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

Against a backdrop of decades of conflict, Israel's war with Hamas was sparked by Hamas's 7 October attack, which took at least 1,200 lives and saw more than 250 people taken hostage.

The war has fuelled calls for boycotts of Israeli products in Europe. In June, UK supermarket chain Co-op announced it would stop sourcing Israeli products — along with products from 16 other countries — following a sustained BDS campaign.