Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779329085619Screen Shot 2026-05-21 at 7.37.48 AM (2).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on Occupied Palestinian Territory. 📷༘<em> @FranceskAlbs/X</em></span></span></span></div><p>WASHINGTON, United States — The United States on Wednesday removed sanctions on Francesca Albanese, a UN expert on the Palestinian territories who has harshly criticized Israel, following a court order.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/6/6/what-is-genocide-and-is-it-happening-in-gaza-1121">What is genocide and is it happening in Gaza?</a></div><p>A notice on the Treasury Department&#x27;s website showed that it had removed a sanctions designation on Albanese that had blacklisted her globally, making it impossible for her to use major credit cards or carry out bank transactions.</p><p>Albanese, who is Italian, has been a relentless critic of Israel&#x27;s treatment of the Palestinians in her role as the UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories.</p><p>US District Judge Richard Leon last week granted a preliminary injunction against the sanctions.</p><p>&quot;Protecting the freedom of speech is &#x27;always&#x27; in the public interest,&quot; Leon wrote in an opinion accompanying the order.</p><p>Secretary of State Marco Rubio, announcing sanctions against Albanese in July last year, said she has &quot;spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism and open contempt for the United States, Israel and the West.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/9/16/un-expert-says-gaza-deadliest-conflict-ever-for-journalists-1112">UN expert says Gaza deadliest conflict ever for journalists</a></div><p>Albanese denies allegations of antisemitism, which have also been made by Israel.</p><p>Albanese has been at the forefront of accusing Israel of carrying out genocide in Gaza in its devastating military campaign after the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas.</p><p>She faced a backlash when she said that the victims of the October 7 attack were not killed because they were Jewish but because of Israeli actions.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse<br/></strong></div><div><strong><br/></strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0daeaAnDrgA?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jk5wVCZX1oY?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QRDSJkJTckc?&amp;source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&amp;embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.abs-cbn.com%2F&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The United States on Wednesday removed sanctions on Francesca Albanese, a UN expert on the Palestinian territories who has harshly criticized Israel, following a court order.</p>

The United States on Wednesday removed sanctions on Francesca Albanese, a UN expert on the Palestinian territories who has harshly criticized Israel, following a court order.

US lifts sanctions on UN expert on Palestinians

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US lifts sanctions on UN expert on Palestinians

Agence France-Presse

Published May 21, 2026 10:06 AM PHT

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