The Trump administration on Wednesday unveiled U.S. sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in a significant step against one of the most outspoken critics of the ongoing U.S.-backed offensive in Gaza.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the decision — 45 minutes after HuffPost first reported the move was in the works, citing a U.S. official with direct knowledge of a White House directive to government agencies.
“Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated. We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense,” Rubio wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The move is based on President Donald Trump’s executive order imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court and anyone assisting its work. The measure likely would bar Albanese, an Italian national, from traveling to the U.S., as well as block any assets she has in the country and likely complicate her work by deterring U.S. companies and others from engaging with her.
Albanese, a legal expert focused on human rights, has been deeply critical of Israel’s punishing military campaign and urged international governments to pressure Tel Aviv for a change in course, including through sanctions. Hardline pro-Israel activists have condemned her and urged Trump to sanction her.
The Trump administration sanctioned the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, in February, and Khan has since lost access to his Microsoft account and bank accounts in his native Britain.
Trump’s order accused the ICC of “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel,” a reference to the court’s decision last year to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in the Gaza war. (The court also issued warrants for leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.)
Israel has denied wrongdoing by Netanyahu and Gallant and asked the ICC to withdraw its warrants for them.
The new decision comes as Netanyahu is visiting Washington, and the U.S. and Israel are emphasizing their close ties.
Spokespeople at the National Security Council and Treasury Department, which oversees sanctions, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Neither did Albanese nor the U.N. Human Rights Office.
The sanctions are “over the top” and “entirely unnecessary,” argued Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer. “If the U.S. government disagrees with her legal positions, they can put out their own views on the subject.”
But Finucane tied the move to what he described as “two of the biggest projects of this administration”: undermining the rule of law and repressing criticism of Israel through a domestic crackdown and international steps.
“I find it entirely possible this is at the behest of the Israeli government either directly or as mediated through the U.S. Embassy in Israel,” said Finucane, who is now at the International Crisis Group think tank.
He noted that Trump does not seem as “sentimentally attached” to Israel as past presidents like Joe Biden, so the targeting of Israel’s critics may reflect the influence of others in his administration.
Rubio has led attempted deportations of students who have challenged Israel’s U.S.-backed war in Gaza, and U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has advocated pro-Israel positions far beyond traditional U.S. policy, like suggesting Palestinians should develop a state in Muslim-majority countries rather than the Israel-occupied West Bank and Gaza.
The move against Albanese is likely to draw major international criticism as a blow to the U.N. system and international law, including from U.S. allies who are themselves broadly supportive of Israel.
“Even if you think Netanyahu is not guilty, punishing the ICC or those engaged in its due process puts you on the side of dictators and war criminals,” Dylan Williams, of the Center for International Policy think tank, wrote on X in response to the news, calling the action “rogue state behavior.”
U.S.-backed Israeli attacks in Gaza continue to kill Palestinians daily, with at least 57,000 killed so far, according to local authorities, and food, medicine and water are in short supply in the besieged region. Palestinian militants’ attacks killed five Israeli soldiers earlier this week, bringing the toll among them to 888.
The Trump administration has continued to claim it upholds human rights while backing the Israeli offensive, sanctioning those questioning it and gutting rights advocacy by the U.S. government. During a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, CIA director John Ratcliffe said to Trump: “Obviously you’re not going to stand or allow for any violations of international law by anyone.”