EU 'deeply regrets' US sanctions on Albanese

The European Union has said it "deeply regrets" US sanctions imposed on the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories,  Francesca Albanese, an EU spokesperson said on Friday.

"We deeply regret the decision to impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese", spokesperson Anouar El Anouni told reporters during a daily EU briefing, adding that the European Union "strongly supports the United Nations human rights system."

Announcing the sanctions on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Italian lawyer had launched “political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel”. 

The sanctions follow Albanese's scathing report published on 30 June, in which she named over 60 companies - including major US technology firms like Google, Amazon and Microsoft - she said were involved in "the transformation of Israel's economy of occupation to an economy of genocide".

The report called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and national judicial systems to investigate and prosecute corporate executives and companies. It also called on UN member states to pursue sanctions and asset freezes.