US lifts sanctions on Francesca Albanese, UN expert on Palestinian rights

The United States has removed Francesca ​Albanese, a UN special rapporteur on the ​Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, from its list of sanctioned individuals, according to the US Treasury Department website.

The removal on Wednesday comes a week after a federal judge temporarily blocked the sanctions, finding that the administration likely violated her free-speech rights by imposing the measures ​after she criticised Israel's genocide in ​Gaza.

Albanese, an Italian citizen living in Tunisia, was sanctioned after she encouraged the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, the Netherlands, to pursue war crimes prosecutions against Israeli officials over the genocide in Gaza.

She also authored a report accusing major US companies of complicity in Israel's "ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza."

The US imposed sanctions on Albanese in July 2025 over what it said were her efforts to prompt the International Criminal Court to take action against US and Israeli officials, companies, and executives.

The sanctions had barred her from entering the ⁠US and banking there.

Following the ruling, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control said it would not implement or enforce the sanctions against Albanese while the order remained in effect.

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Source: TRT