US Sanctions UN Expert Critical of Israel’s War in Gaza

The United States has imposed sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, citing her calls for international legal action against U.S. and Israeli officials over the war in Gaza.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions on Wednesday, accusing Albanese of leading “illegitimate and shameful efforts” to push the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute American and Israeli figures, including executives and corporations allegedly tied to the conflict.

“Today I am imposing sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt ICC action against US and Israeli officials, companies, and executives,” Rubio said in a statement.

Albanese, an Italian lawyer and academic, has been one of the most outspoken critics of Israel’s military actions in Gaza. She has described the campaign as a “genocidal” assault and called on UN member states to impose an arms embargo, suspend financial and trade relations with Israel, and hold companies accountable for aiding the conflict.

In response to the sanctions, Albanese wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that she stood “firmly and convincingly on the side of justice.” In a message to Al Jazeera, she denounced the U.S. actions as “mafia-style intimidation techniques.”

Her latest UN report accused more than 60 companies—including arms and tech firms—of aiding Israeli settlements and military operations. It called for those corporations to cut ties with Israel and for legal accountability for any executives complicit in violations of international law.

Human rights organizations swiftly condemned Washington’s move. Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnes Callamard, a former UN rapporteur herself, urged the international community to resist U.S. pressure and safeguard the independence of UN rights monitors.

“Governments around the world and all actors who believe in the rule-based order and international law must do everything in their power to mitigate and block the effect of the sanctions against Francesca Albanese,” Callamard said.

Dylan Williams, vice president of the Center for International Policy, called the sanctions “rogue state behavior.”

Albanese is one of several independent experts appointed by the UN to monitor and report on specific crises. While their views are not official UN positions, they are considered essential voices in holding governments accountable.

The move comes amid broader U.S. disengagement from international institutions under President Donald Trump’s second term. Since returning to office in January, Trump has withdrawn from the UN Human Rights Council, continued a freeze on Palestinian relief agency UNRWA funding, and moved to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization.

In June, the Trump administration also sanctioned four International Criminal Court judges following the court’s issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and earlier investigations into alleged U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan.