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The State Department’s decision to sanction Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, came after a failed U.S. pressure campaign to have the international organization remove her from her post.

Human rights lawyer Albanese has called for an end to what she described as Israel’s “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza. Both Israel and its military backer, the United States, have strongly denied the allegation.

Israel faces genocide charges at the International Court of Justice and war crimes charges at the International Criminal Court over its devastating military assault on Gaza. Albanese’s stance has been supported by prominent genocide scholars and human rights organizations.

In a post on X late Wednesday, Albanese wrote that she “stands firmly and persuasively for justice, as always,” without directly referring to the U.S. sanctions. In a brief message to Al Jazeera, she reportedly called the U.S. action “a mafia-style intimidation tactic.”

In recent weeks, Albanese has published a series of letters calling on other countries to pressure Israel — including through sanctions — to halt its deadly bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

Italian national Albanese has also strongly supported the opening of cases at the International Criminal Court against Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for war crimes. Most recently, she released a report naming several major U.S. companies as complicit in Israel’s occupation and war in Gaza.