The Trump administration on Wednesday unveiled U.S. sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in a significant step against one of the most outspoken critics of the ongoing U.S.-backed offensive in Gaza.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the decision — 45 minutes after HuffPost first reported the move was in the works, citing a U.S. official with direct knowledge of a White House directive to government agencies.
“Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated. We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense,” Rubio wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Albanese responded on the platform on Wednesday evening, writing: “On this day more than ever: I stand firmly and convincingly on the side of justice, as I have always done.”
The move is based on President Donald Trump’s executive order imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court and anyone assisting its work. The measure likely would bar Albanese, an Italian national, from traveling to the U.S., as well as block any assets she has in the country and likely complicate her work by deterring U.S. companies and others from engaging with her.
