US Sanctions UN Gaza Investigator Over Israel Criticism/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ The U.S. sanctioned UN Gaza investigator Francesca Albanese over her criticism of Israel’s military actions and calls for sanctions. Albanese, who labeled Israel’s Gaza offensive as genocide, faces accusations of political warfare by U.S. officials. Human rights groups condemn the move, calling it an attack on justice and UN independence.
Quick Look
- The US sanctioned UN investigator Francesca Albanese over her criticism of Israel’s Gaza offensive, labeling it genocide.
- Albanese’s reports named Western firms allegedly aiding Israel’s military actions.
- Human rights groups condemned the sanctions as attacks on justice and UN independence.
US Imposes Sanctions on UN Investigator Probing Gaza Abuses
Deep Look
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday announced sanctions against Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur investigating alleged human rights abuses in Gaza, marking a dramatic escalation in Washington’s effort to silence critics of Israel’s 21-month war in the territory.
The U.S. State Department said the sanctions target Albanese for what it called a “campaign of political and economic warfare” against the United States and Israel. Albanese, an Italian human rights lawyer, has described Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide and has urged global sanctions against Israeli officials and businesses supporting military operations there.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the U.S. “will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense” and would no longer tolerate Albanese’s criticism, accusing her of using her position to damage American and Israeli interests.
The sanctions come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Washington for high-level talks with President Donald Trump, amid international outrage over Gaza’s humanitarian crisis. More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military campaign, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilian and militant casualties.
Albanese’s investigations have included calls for Western companies supplying military hardware to Israel to be held accountable for complicity in alleged war crimes. Her latest report names U.S. defense, banking, real estate, and technology companies as aiding Israel’s operations.
Human rights organizations swiftly condemned the U.S. move. Liz Evenson of Human Rights Watch said the sanctions represent “an effort to silence a U.N. expert for doing her job—speaking truth about Israeli violations against Palestinians.” She called on U.N. member states to resist what she termed the U.S.’s “shameless efforts to block justice.”
Israel’s diplomatic mission to the U.N. dismissed Albanese’s findings as “legally groundless” and accused her of whitewashing Hamas atrocities. Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, applauded the sanctions, saying Albanese’s work “crossed the line from human rights advocacy into political warfare.”
Outside experts like Albanese are not U.N. staff but report findings to the Human Rights Council, which the Trump administration left earlier this year. The Council has been a frequent target of Trump’s criticism for what he views as bias against Israel.
Albanese vowed to continue her work. “We must stop this genocide, whose short-term goal is completing the ethnic cleansing of Palestine,” she wrote on X. “No one is safe until everyone is safe.”
You must Register or Login to post a comment.