The United States has reinstated Francesca Albanese, a United Nations expert on Palestinian territories, to its sanctions list, as shown on the Treasury Department’s website Wednesday.
Key developments in the case:
• The sanctions were originally imposed in July 2025 because of what the U.S. described as Albanese’s attempts to encourage the International Criminal Court to pursue action against American and Israeli officials, businesses and executives.
• Earlier in May, Albanese was taken off the sanctions list when a federal judge approved an injunction requested by her husband and daughter that temporarily suspended the sanctions.
• U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington determined the Trump administration likely infringed on her free-speech rights by implementing the sanctions following her criticism of Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
• Last Friday, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted an administrative stay of Leon’s decision, permitting the government to reinstate Albanese’s status as a sanctioned foreign national.
• The appeals court emphasized that the administrative stay was procedural in nature and “should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits” of the government’s larger appeal to suspend the lower court’s injunction while the case proceeds.
