The United States on Wednesday restored sanctions on Francesca Albanese, a U.N. expert on the Palestinian territories, after an appeals court overruled an earlier order prohibiting the action.
An update on the Treasury Department's website on Wednesday showed Albanese had been re-added to the Specially Designated Nationals list.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled on May 13 that the Trump administration likely violated Albanese's free speech rights by sanctioning her for criticizing U.S. ally Israel's genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, granting a preliminary injunction against the sanctions.
On Friday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issued an administrative stay of Leon's ruling, clearing the way for the government to restore Albanese's sanctions designation.
Albanese, an Italian citizen, was sanctioned by the U.S. in July 2025 after she encouraged the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to pursue war crimes prosecutions against Israeli officials amid Israel's genocidal war on Gaza.
