UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, attends a public event hosted by the Olof Palme International Center in Belgrade on March 17, 2026. (Credit: Andrej Isakovic/AFP)
The United States on Wednesday removed sanctions on the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, following a preliminary court order last week on the grounds of protecting free speech.
According to the Treasury Department's website, it had removed a sanctions designation on Albanese that had blacklisted her globally, making it impossible for her to use major credit cards or carry out bank transactions, and putting at risk third parties doing business with her in the process.
Albanese, who is Italian, has been a relentless critic of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, authoring numerous reports and touring the world to participate in conferences and speaking tours.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon last week found that the Trump administration had likely violated Albanese’s free speech rights by sanctioning her over criticism of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
"Protecting the freedom of speech is 'always' in the public interest," Leon wrote in an opinion accompanying the order.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio had announced the sanctions against Albanese in July last year under the pretext that she had "spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism and open contempt for the United States, Israel, and the West."
Albanese has repeatedly denied allegations of antisemitism, saying her critics use such smears for political purposes.
Albanese has been at the forefront of accusing Israel of committing a genocide in Gaza during its devastating — and still ongoing — military campaign on the Strip following Oct. 7, 2023. Other major international human rights organizations and genocide experts have also accused Israel of committing a genocide in Gaza, after it killed nearly 74,000 people, the majority women and children, forcibly displaced the majority of the enclave's population, and rendered the Strip virtually uninhabitable.
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