A PETITION for the UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories to win a Nobel Peace Prize has gained over one million signatures.
Francesca Albanese was nominated for the 2026 prize by Tunisia’s National Dialogue Quartet, the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL) and the International Civil Society Action Network (ICSAN) in July for providing “vital legal clarity and ethical framing on the rights of civilians in armed conflict and in the face of genocide”.
The petition also calls for doctors working in the field in Gaza to be awarded the prize alongside Albanese.
"As people from across the world, we believe Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, and the doctors caring for people in Gaza deserve a Nobel Peace Prize for their work”, the campaign description reads.
“She spoke out – now the Trump administration is punishing Francesca Albanese ... with sanctions.
“Nominations for a Nobel Peace Prize for Francesca Albanese are gathering steam. Meanwhile, she keeps centring those most at risk: everyone struggling in Gaza.”
Albanese, a human rights lawyer, investigates human rights abuses across Palestine and its territories illegally occupied by Israel. She was initially appointed to the role in 2022 for a three-year term before it was extended in 2025 for a further three years.
She has been a prominent supporter of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrants against Israeli officials, including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for allegations of war crimes in Palestinian territories.
In a statement announcing their nomination for Albanese, ICAN and WASL said: “Awarding the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to Francesca Albanese would not only honour her personal integrity and contribution but also reaffirm the international community’s commitment to the foundational principles of peace through justice.
“It would send a powerful signal that the defence of human rights under pressure is not only necessary, but worthy of the world’s highest recognition.”
US secretary of state Marco Rubio announced in July that the US would sanction Albanese for engaging with the ICC as it sought to prosecute American and Israeli nationals for their involvement in the ongoing genocide.
Rubio said she was “unfit” to be a Special Rapporteur, accusing her of antisemitism and “expressing support for terrorism”. The sanctions blocked Albanese from entering the US and any assets held in the country.
She told Al Jazeera that the sanctions were “mafia style intimidation techniques” and wrote on Twitter/X: “[O]n this day more than ever: I stand firmly and convincingly on the side of justice, as I have always done."
