Albanese: Trump’s Plan on Gaza Is the Worst Insult

UN special rapporteur for human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese called U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan on Gaza “the worst insult,” saying it enables continued ethnic cleansing of Palestinians; speaking to the UK’s iPaper she criticized the supposed ceasefire as far from a peace plan, warned the deal risks further mass violence, accused powerful states of shielding Israel and enabling atrocities, described U.S. sanctions against her as “illegal and vindictive,” and said she has been forced to continue her work from South Africa after the U.S. blocked her access to her New York office.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, told the UK newspaper iPaper that President Donald Trump’s plan on Gaza is, in her view, the worst insult. She said she does not trust this peace process because she does not trust the people responsible for it and she does not trust an agreement founded on breaches of international law.

She emphasized that Israel does not want Palestinians to remain in Gaza, and that this has long been clear.

Albanese criticized the ceasefire, saying what is happening is not a war between two states and two armies but rather an assault on an occupied and detained people confined in a ghetto since 1948.

She said the agreement is expected to lead to continued ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Because of her calls for an end to Israeli occupation and for just solutions to the Palestinian question, she has faced severe criticism and attacks from the Israeli government and some of its allies.

Albanese said: imagine how tragic it is that a country bases its foreign policy on destroying the international system and denying victims justice after genocide. She said it is distressing that the United States has sunk to this level.

In July, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio imposed sanctions on Albanese and condemned her criticisms of Washington and Tel Aviv after the Gaza war.

Those measures barred her from accessing her office in New York and forced her to continue her work from South Africa. She likened the U.S. sanctions to mafia-style tactics in Italy.

Albanese said it is unwise to entrust a government that has been referred to two international courts on charges of genocide and war crimes with determining the future of Palestinians.

The independent UN monitor again criticized countries for failing to stand up to U.S. sanctions—measures that have complicated her ability to present her final in-person assessment of Israeli human rights violations in the occupied territories.

Calling the sanctions “illegal and vindictive,” she told the General Assembly by video from South Africa that they must be confronted.

Before presenting her report on Gaza and the West Bank, she said these actions are an attack on the United Nations itself—on its independence, integrity and spirit. Hours later she told reporters that despite unprecedented attacks against her as a UN rapporteur, powerful countries have not taken “concrete steps beyond statements and condemnations” since the U.S. decision this summer.

When asked whether the UN and its officials, including Secretary-General António Guterres, had supported her, she expressed doubt and preferred not to comment.

Albanese, an Italian human-rights lawyer, is a “special rapporteur”—an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to assess human-rights situations; they have no formal powers but their views can influence global public opinion and prosecutors. Albanese has served as special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza since May 2022 and has repeatedly criticized Israeli policies there, describing Israel’s actions as “genocide” and “apartheid.”

On Tuesday she reiterated her remarks, describing Gaza during a fragile ceasefire as still “choked, starving and shattered,” calling the ceasefire far less than a peace plan.

Israeli envoy: Albanese is a witch
Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon called her report “shameful” and “one-sided,” personally humiliating her by calling her a “witch.”

Israel has long had problems with the Human Rights Council and its rapporteurs, calling them biased.

The U.S. State Department said Albanese “has openly supported antisemitism and terrorism and has taken legal action against the United States and our interests; given these facts she was sanctioned earlier this year and will not receive a U.S. visa.”

When announcing sanctions in July, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio leveled similar accusations, saying she “shamelessly promoted antisemitism, supported terrorism, and openly disparaged the United States, Israel and the West.”

Albanese denied these allegations, saying she is being attacked for doing her job and will not stop. In July she told the Associated Press that she acted in good faith and that her commitment to justice outweighs personal interests.

Following U.S. sanctions, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called for their “swift removal.” UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric called the sanctions “unacceptable.”

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that Albanese’s report presented at the UN’s Social-Humanitarian and Cultural Committee in New York, titled “The Slaughter of Gaza: A Collective Crime,” is highly significant because it includes facts and statements that document the reality of Israeli occupation and its ongoing crimes.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said the report should be a turning point for international positions. It stressed that the current mass killing in Gaza is not merely a humanitarian disaster but a true test of the international system’s ability to uphold justice, equality, sovereignty and the rule of law.

Albanese said via videolink that some countries’ support for Israeli policies on occupation and settlement-building will later translate into collective slaughter against the Palestinian people. These horrific events are not aberrations but the culmination of decades of moral and political failures in the colonial global order.

She said some countries armed and unlawfully supported Israel in the occupied territories through diplomatic, political, military and economic backing. Those actions have turned colonial settler expansion into collective slaughter—the greatest crime committed against the Palestinian people.

She also said she could not attend the UN meeting in person because of U.S. sanctions.

Reception in Palestine
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry stated that Albanese’s report clearly demonstrates international complicity and support in committing a collective crime against the Palestinian people in Gaza and a broader framework of settler-colonial policies and ethnic cleansing.

The ministry added that influential countries have shirked their legal obligations by providing diplomatic cover and political, military and economic support, turning the killing into war crimes while the international community bears legal and moral responsibility.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry stressed that this report must mark a turning point in the international community’s stance. The current mass slaughter in Gaza is not only a humanitarian catastrophe but a real test of the international order’s power to uphold justice, equality, sovereignty and the rule of law.