The Donald Trump administration on Wednesday announced sanctions against Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur investigating human rights violations in the Palestinian territories.
This move marks the latest U.S. attempt to penalise critics of Israel’s 21-month-long conflict in Gaza. The State Department imposed the sanctions after previously failing to persuade the UN to remove Albanese from her position.
Who is Francesca Albanese, and what did she say about the Israel-Gaza war?
Francesca Albanese is an international lawyer with a focus on human rights and Middle Eastern affairs. Since May 2022, she has held the role of United Nations Special Rapporteur, responsible for monitoring and reporting on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, according to UNHCR.
As Special Rapporteur, she has released multiple legal analyses and key reports on various issues, including the violation of the right to self-determination in the occupied Palestinian territories (2022), the widespread and systematic imprisonment of Palestinians (2023), the erosion of childhood rights, referred to as “unchilding,” in the oPt (2023), and allegations of genocide.
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She stressed that genuine impartiality is not about ignorance or indifference. Rather, it requires an objective examination of the facts grounded in international law, while also acknowledging and addressing—rather than overlooking—power imbalances and historical injustices, UNHCR noted.
Albanese is the author of notable works, including Palestinian Refugees in International Law (Oxford University Press, 2020), and more recently, J’Accuse (Fuoriscena, 2024).
Meanwhile, in an interview with The World with Yalda Hakim, Albanese stated that “many” young fighters in Gaza are deeply affected by their experiences, saying they are “haunted by what they have seen, what they have done.”
She noted the psychological toll the conflict is taking, adding, “It doesn’t make sense. This is not a war, this is an assault against civilians, and this is producing a fracture in many of them,” according to a report by NewsSky.
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In a post on X, Albanese wrote, “Since October 7, torture against Palestinian prisoners has become widespread and systematic. Both male and female detainees have been subjected to sexual violence, including rape. The documented gang rape at #SdeTeiman is not an isolated case—it’s part of a pattern. This is not just cruelty: inflicting severe physical or mental harm on members of a group ‘as such’ is a constitutive element of genocide.”
What did Albanese’s report say?
Francesca Albanese, an Italian human rights lawyer, has openly accused Israel of committing “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza, a claim strongly rejected by both Israel and the United States, which remains a key military backer of Israel.
Until now, the US had not directly confronted Albanese, partly because it had not participated in either of the two Human Rights Council sessions held this year, including the most recent one that concluded on Tuesday. This absence stems from the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the council earlier this year.
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Albanese’s July 1 report focuses on Western defence companies that have provided weapons used by Israel’s military, as well as manufacturers of earth-moving equipment that have bulldozed Palestinian homes and property, according to a report by Associated Press.
It cites activities by companies in the shipping, real estate, technology, banking and finance and online travel industries, as well as academia. “While life in Gaza is being obliterated and the West Bank is under escalating assault, this report shows why Israel’s genocide continues: because it is lucrative for many,” her report said.
She has also been a strong supporter of the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants against Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, for allegations of war crimes. She most recently issued a report naming several large US companies as among those aiding what she described as Israel’s occupation and war on Gaza.
Israel-Gaza war
The war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 people captive. Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which says women and children make up most of the dead but does not specify how many were fighters or civilians, AP reported.
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Nearly 21 months into the conflict that displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, it is nearly impossible for the critically wounded to get the care they need, doctors and aid workers say.
(With inputs from agencies)