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The United Nations Human Rights Council has renewed the mandate of Francesca Albanese as special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, extending her term for another three years despite strong opposition from Israel and several other countries over her record of controversial statements and alleged conflicts of interest.
Albanese, who has held the position since 2022, was reappointed with the automatic support of the 47-member council, following failed efforts to block the move by Israel, Hungary and Argentina.
Her tenure has drawn sharp criticism from Israeli officials and advocacy groups for what they describe as a pattern of extreme anti-Israel bias. Albanese previously suggested Israel and the CIA were behind the 2015 Charlie Hebdo terror attacks in Paris, compared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hitler and the Nazis, and expressed skepticism about reports of sexual violence committed by Hamas during the October 7 massacre, even after a UN report confirmed such crimes occurred.
Israeli officials have also raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest, noting that Albanese’s husband, Massimiliano Calì, serves as an economic adviser to the Palestinian Authority—a fact Israel claims she failed to disclose to the UN. She has also faced scrutiny over a trip to Australia funded by a group reportedly supportive of Hamas, which prompted an internal UN investigation.
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In 2022, the pro-Israel watchdog group UN Watch submitted a report to the UN arguing that Albanese’s conduct and public statements violated the organization’s principles of impartiality and objectivity.
On October 7, 2023, as Hamas terrorists carried out a deadly attack on Israeli civilians, Albanese stated the violence "must be seen in a wider context." Since then, she has been accused of downplaying atrocities committed by Hamas, denying that it constituted the worst antisemitic massacre since the Holocaust and instead describing the assault as a "response to Israeli oppression."
The role of UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories requires the envoy to provide credible, precise and objective reports to the United Nations and to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). While previous rapporteurs have also been critical of Israeli policy, none have drawn formal accusations of antisemitism from countries such as France and Germany, as Albanese has during her tenure.