Washington to impose sanctions on UN special rapporteur for Palestinian territories

The United States has announced it will impose sanctions against Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, based in Geneva.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday X that Albanese had taken “illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt International Criminal Court (ICC) action against US and Israeli officials, companies, and executives.” 

In a follow-up statement, Rubio condemned Albanese’s repeated criticism of the US and said she had urged the ICC to issue arrest warrants, including against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Rubio also accused Albanese of having “spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism, and open contempt for the United States, Israel, and the West,” according to BBC.

Rubio also claimed that Albanese had shown disrespect for the United States and sent what he described as “threatening letters” to a number of American companies, in which she made “unfounded accusations” and called for legal action to be taken against them and their executives.

In July, Francesca Albanese submitted a report to the UN Human Rights Council addressing “corporate mechanisms that support the Israeli colonial project of displacing and replacing Palestinians.”.

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