The United States on Wednesday lifted sanctions imposed on UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, a sharp critic of Israel, following a court order.
A notice on the US Treasury Department website showed that sanctions against Albanese had been removed after she was previously placed on a global blacklist, which made it impossible for her to use major credit cards or carry out banking transactions.
Washington imposed sanctions on Albanese in July 2025 after she made statements criticising US policy towards the Gaza Strip.
Albanese, who took up her post in 2022, has said that Israel committed “genocide in Gaza”.
Last week, US District Judge Richard Leon suspended the US sanctions against Albanese.
In his ruling, Leon said that “protecting the freedom of speech is always in the public interest”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said when announcing the sanctions in July last year that Albanese had engaged in “biased and malicious activities”, accusing her of having “spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism and open contempt for the United States, Israel and the West.”
Albanese has denied allegations of antisemitism, which have also been made against her by Israel.
