New York, 10 July – The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur. She is a critic of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the move was taken because Albanese supported the International Criminal Court (ICC). The U.S. has already sanctioned four judges of the ICC.

Rubio accused Albanese of being directly involved in the ICC’s efforts to prosecute American or Israeli citizens, claiming that this makes her unfit to serve as a special representative of the United Nations.

These sanctions are likely to bar Albanese from visiting the U.S., and any assets she holds in the country will be frozen.

The U.S. imposed similar sanctions on the four ICC judges last year after the court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza. — BBC