Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, is being asked to resign by France, Germany, Italy, Austria and the Czech Republic, all because of comments she never made. The controversy began after Albanese spoke at a conference in Doha, but an edited clip of her remarks was then circulated by the pro-Israel advocacy group called UN Watch.

The manipulated clip made it appear as though Albanese had described Israel as “the common enemy of humanity.” The countries calling for Albanese’s resignation did not check the fake viral video for authenticity.

On 16 February 2026, UN staffers defended Albanese against attacks from European ministers. But Albanese and International Criminal Court (ICC) officials face sanctions, asset freezes, and banking blackouts after she accused major US firms of collaborating in Israel’s Gaza genocide. She is facing sanctions from the US, despite the UN’s insistence that she has diplomatic immunity.

The US has added her name, along with ICC staff, to the US Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals list, alongside suspected terrorists, drug traffickers and arms dealers.

The US openly admits that it sanctioned ICC staff for their attempts to investigate crimes by Israel’s leaders in Gaza and by the US military in Afghanistan.

Albanese wrote letters to the US’s most powerful companies and warned them about contributing to gross human rights violations by Israel in Gaza and the West Bank.

The report titled “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide: Report........

© The Friday Times