An independent U.N. investigator and outspoken critic of Israel's actions in Gaza said "it was shocking" to learn that the Trump administration had imposed sanctions on her.

Francesca Albanese, a legal scholar and independent U.N. official for human rights in Gaza and the West Bank, has described the war in Gaza as “genocide.”

The State Department's decision to impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, follows an unsuccessful U.S. pressure campaign to force the international body to remove her from her post.