Washington, United States – An official update posted on the U.S. Treasury Department website stated that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has removed the name of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, from the list of individuals subject to economic sanctions and strict restrictions.
Court ruling suspends sanctions
This executive action came about a week after a crucial ruling by a US federal judge temporarily suspended the sanctions. The court concluded that the administration of US President Donald Trump had likely violated Albanese’s constitutional rights, particularly her First Amendment right to free speech. These restrictions were imposed on her following her sharp and persistent public criticism of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, according to France 24.
Albanese is a prominent Italian lawyer and legal expert who has served as the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 2022. In her UN role, she spearheaded extensive international efforts calling on the International Criminal Court to prosecute Israeli and American officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity. She also issued a widely criticized UN report accusing major American multinational corporations of direct complicity in Israel’s ongoing campaign of genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Behind the scenes of the legal battle with the Trump administration
Washington imposed harsh sanctions on Albanese in July 2025, accusing her of using her international position to seek and obtain arrest warrants and punitive measures against US and Israeli government officials and business executives.
Under those sanctions, she was barred from entering the United States. Her assets were also frozen, and she was prohibited from conducting any banking or commercial transactions within the US financial system.
In a further development in the legal battle, Albanese’s husband and daughter, a U.S. citizen, filed a joint lawsuit against the Trump administration last February. They challenged the legality and constitutionality of the sanctions, arguing that they constituted political punishment and an unlawful targeting of a UN official for her professional views and positions.
The U.S. Treasury’s recent decision represents a notable retreat by the administration in the face of legal pressure. This move comes in a case that has raised complex questions about the limits of the White House’s executive authority to impose sanctions on UN diplomatic personnel.
