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U.S. Imposes Sanctions on U.N. Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio denounced Francesca Albanese, a special rapporteur, for investigating Americans and Israelis over the war in the enclave.

A woman in a dark blazer standing behind microphones.

July 10, 2025Updated 4:10 a.m. ET

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that the United States would impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, for her work with the International Criminal Court to investigate Americans and Israelis.

Ms. Albanese, an Italian legal scholar, has been an outspoken critic of Israeli military actions in Gaza, and the Trump administration has been on a campaign to punish people who criticize Israel’s war in Gaza.

An executive order signed by President Trump in February imposed sanctions that could bar people associated with the International Criminal Court from entering the United States and from purchasing property and assets in the country.

The United States is not a party to a 1998 treaty that established the court to investigate and prosecute people accused of war crimes, genocide and other offenses.

The Trump administration acted last month against four judges on the International Criminal Court for issuing arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and members of his war cabinet. The United States imposed sanctions on the court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, in February after he brought a case against Israel over the war.

Last week, in a speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council Ms. Albanese said that Israel was “responsible for one of the cruelest genocides in modern history.”