On July 9, 2025, the US imposed sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, accusing her of antisemitism and supporting terrorism due to her critical reports on Israel's actions in Gaza and calls for ICC prosecutions. Albanese dismissed the sanctions as intimidation and vowed to continue exposing alleged Israeli war crimes and corporate complicity.
The US sanctions against Francesca Albanese represent a strategic effort to silence a prominent UN human rights expert whose investigations challenge US and Israeli narratives on the Gaza conflict. By framing Albanese's calls for ICC prosecutions and corporate accountability as "political and economic warfare," the US seeks to delegitimize her findings and deter similar scrutiny.
Albanese's detailed report exposing over 60 multinational companies' involvement in supporting Israeli military operations highlights the complex intersection of commerce and conflict. This raises critical questions about corporate responsibility and the enforcement of international humanitarian law, especially given the involvement of major US firms.
The sanctions set a dangerous precedent by undermining the independence and protection of UN special rapporteurs, who operate without formal authority but play a vital role in documenting abuses and informing international justice. The backlash from UN officials and rights groups underscores concerns about the erosion of multilateral human rights mechanisms.
The US move will likely deepen tensions within the UN Human Rights Council and among member states, potentially weakening cooperation on human rights monitoring. Albanese's resolve to continue her work suggests ongoing scrutiny of Israel's actions and corporate involvement, which may increase pressure on companies and governments to reconsider their roles. Legal challenges invoking diplomatic immunity and international law are expected to follow, testing the limits of US influence over UN mandates.
This story highlights how international politics, corporate interests, and human rights intersect, affecting global governance and accountability. It underscores the challenges faced by human rights defenders and the importance of vigilance in protecting international legal norms.
Francesca Albanese, appointed in 2022 as the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, has been a vocal critic of Israel's military actions in Gaza. She has accused Israel of genocide and called for sanctions and legal accountability against Israeli officials and companies involved in the conflict. The US and Israel have strongly denied these accusations and have criticized Albanese's work, culminating in US sanctions against her in July 2025.
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Francesca Paola Albanese (Italian: [franˈtʃeska ˈpaːola albaˈneːse, -eːze]; born 30 March 1977) is an Italian legal scholar and expert on human rights who has served as the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territor
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Israel, formally known as the State of Israel, is a country in Western Asia, located on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea.
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Marco Antonio Rubio is an American attorney and politician currently serving as the senior United States Senator from Florida. A Republican, Rubio previously served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.
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The United States of America, commonly known as the United States or America, is a country mostly located in central North America, between Canada and Mexico.
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The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization that aims to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations.
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Gaza most commonly refers to:
Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea
Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip
Gaza may also refer to:
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Benjamin Netanyahu is an Israeli politician serving as Prime Minister of Israel since 2009, and previously from 1996 to 1999. Netanyahu is also the Chairman of the Likud – National Liberal Movement.
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Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist militant organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
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The International Criminal Court is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal that sits in The Hague, Netherlands.
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Donald John Trump is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
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Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, defense, arms, security, and advanced technologies company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in North
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a country situated in the confluence of Western, Central, and Southern Europe. It is a federal republic composed of 26 cantons, with federal authorities based in Bern.
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Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate, which was restructured into the following groups:
Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested
Hyundai Asan, a real estate construction and civil engineering company
Hyunda
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Elbit Systems Ltd. is an Israel-based international defense electronics company engaged in a wide range of programs throughout the world.
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Amazon.com, Inc., is an American multinational technology company based in Seattle, Washington. Amazon focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence.
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The West Bank is a landlocked territory near the Mediterranean coast of Western Asia, bordered by Jordan to the east and by Israel to the south, west and north. The West Bank also contains a significant section of the western Dead Sea shore.
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Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology company with headquarters in Redmond, Washington. It develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services.
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Caterpillar Inc. is an American Fortune 100 corporation which designs, develops, engineers, manufactures, markets, and sells machinery, engines, financial products, and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network.
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The United Nations Human Rights Council is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The UNHRC has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. The headquarters of UNHRC is
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The Gaza Strip, or simply Gaza, is a self-governing Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, that borders Egypt on the southwest for 11 kilometers and Israel on the east and north along a 51 km border.
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Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a sovereign country located in West Africa bordering Niger in the north, Chad in the northeast, Cameroon in the east, and Benin in the west.
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Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is a sovereign country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Guardafui Channel and Somali Sea to the east, and Kenya to the southwest.
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The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs, are an ethnonational group comprising the modern descendants of the peoples who have lived in Palestine continuously over the centuries and who today are largely culturally and
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Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which borders it to the east and northeast.
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Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti formerly founded as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, to the east of Cuba and Jamaica and south of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos
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Palantir Technologies Inc. is an American publicly traded company specializing in software platforms for data. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, it was founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel, Stephen Cohen, Joe Lonsdale, Alex Karp, and Nathan Gettings.
Palantir.