Francesca Albanese is an Italian international lawyer and human rights expert specializing in the Middle East, born in 1977 in Ariano Irpino.[1][3] She has over two decades of experience, including a decade with UN agencies such as the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Jerusalem, and the UN Development Programme in Morocco.[1][2][3] Albanese served as a human rights officer and advisor on issues affecting refugees, migrants, and vulnerable groups across the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia-Pacific regions.[1] From 2013 to 2015, she worked with Project Concern International in Washington on protection during the West Africa Ebola outbreak.[2] She later became an affiliate scholar at Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of International Migration and has taught at universities in Europe and the Middle East.[2] Albanese co-authored books including *Palestinian Refugees in International Law* (2020) and *J’Accuse* (2024), and co-founded the Global Network on the Question of Palestine.[3] In May 2022, she was appointed UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, becoming the first woman and second Italian in the role.[1][8] Her reports have criticized Israel's occupation as "settler-colonial" and "apartheid," recommending UN member states develop plans to end it.[1] Following the October 2023 Hamas attacks and Israel's Gaza operations, she called for ceasefires, warned of ethnic cleansing risks, and reported to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2024 that Israel's actions amounted to genocide, citing mass killings and infrastructure destruction.[1][3][7] Her mandate has drawn controversy: past comments on the "Jewish lobby" in the US (later regretted) and justifications of Palestinian resistance sparked criticism for antisemitism and bias from groups like the ADL.[1][4] In recent events, the US sanctioned her for her scrutiny of abuses in Palestinian territories, a move condemned by UN High Commissioner Volker Türk; the Trump administration also called for her removal.[2][3] She was nominated for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize and spoke at Princeton in October 2024.[5][6] Albanese remains active, with her latest report in October 2024 framing Gaza events as "genocide as colonial erasure."[7]