Italian media bust Albanese: She attended an event with Hamas and PIJ officials

On Thursday, December 4, 2025, the Italian daily newspaper Il Giornale published a crushing article exposing Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, who was already sanctioned on July 9, 2025, by the US State Department on accusations of antisemitism and support for terrorism.

The article reveals that, in November 2022, Francesca Albanese took part in the event “16 Years of Siege on Gaza: Impact and Prospects”, connecting remotely through a video call and speaking shortly after Hamas officials Ghazi Hamad and Bassem Naim. (Full video of the conference available here).

It is worth recalling that, in an interview with CNN aired in September 2025, Hamad praised the October 7, 2023, massacre, stating that the operation created a “golden moment” for the future of the Palestinians, as the subsequent war exposed Israel’s “brutality” to the world”. Hamad also added, “We waited for this moment for 77 years”.

As to Bassem Naim, during an interview with Sky News, following the October 7 massacre, he claimed that Hamas did not kill civilians. In another interview with 60 Minutes Australia, Naim said that Hamas fighters didn’t commit any crimes. Moreover, in late November 2025, a transnational counter-terrorism operation led to the arrest, in London, of Bassem Naim’s son, Muhammad, accused by German authorities of Hamas membership and of transferring weapons from Germany to Austria.

That same 2022 conference also hosted Ahmad al-Mudallal, a leading figure in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Khader Habib, who represents the group in Gaza.

Going back to Il Giornale’s scoop, Francesca Albanese replied by saying: “The conference was organized by a Palestinian NGO in Gaza (Council of Foreign Relations-CFR), with the Palestinian Authority logo at the top of the program. But of course, connecting remotely, like the other international guests, I had no idea or control over who was in the room”.

However, Il Giornale pointed out that the CFR isn’t just a run-of-the-mill Palestinian NGO, as Albanese would have us believe, and in fact, it’s been described by Press TV and others as a Hamas entity.

This isn’t the first time Francesca Albanese has stated she didn’t know who was around her during events. She said the same thing during an event at the Italian Chamber of Deputies last July, and at an initiative in the town of Lenno in the same period of time. In the first case, she referred to the presence of Suleiman Hijazi and in the second case, that of Mohammad Hannoun, both of whom have been repeatedly indicated by the media and analysts as having ties to Hamas in Italy. Hannoun and Albanese have both been sanctioned by the United States in 2024 and 2025.

Furthermore, in the very same reply, where Albanese also claims that Il Giornale is defaming her, she makes a bewildering statement by saying, “Today we are in the post-9/11 era, and resistance is often stigmatized and equated with terrorism. And in any case, I emphasized on that occasion, as I always do, resistance is legitimate as long as it focuses on military, not civilian, objectives.”

On December 6, 2025, Il Giornale highlighted that, before and after the October 7 massacre, Hamas and its representatives consistently hailed Albanese as a heroine. On July 11, 2023, two months before October 7, Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha praised Albanese’s speech before the UN Human Rights Council for “highlighting the crimes and violations of the Zionist occupation army.”

As initially said, Francesca Albanese was sanctioned on July 9, 2025, by the US State Department. As indicated in the DOS statement:

“Albanese has spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism, and open contempt for the United States, Israel, and the West.” Among other things, “she has recently escalated this effort by writing threatening letters to dozens of entities worldwide, including major American companies across finance, technology, defense, energy, and hospitality, making extreme and unfounded accusations and recommending the ICC pursue investigations and prosecutions of these companies and their executives.” Such actions, which are clearly outside of Albanese’s role as “special rapporteur”, have been described by the DOS as “political and economic warfare which threaten US national interests and sovereignty”.

In response, the Iranian regime and Hamas defended Albanese. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baqaei, wrote on his X account that “Truth cannot be suppressed by sanctions…Francesca Albanese is bullied and sanctioned for telling the truth and for standing up against genocide, occupation and apartheid”.

Then came Hamas, criticizing the sanctions and calling them “a blatant expression of the American administration’s flagrant bias in favor of Zionist war crimes”.

In Italy, Albanese has become the heroine of the “pro-Pal” far left factions, constantly present at pro-Palestinian demonstrations. She was awarded by the cities of Bologna (receiving honorary citizenship), Bari (honorary citizenship), Reggio Emilia (a formal recognition from the mayor), Trieste (Luchetta Foundation Special Award), and Fabriano (awarded both the “Gentile Award” and honorary citizenship).

However, as more information emerges about Albanese’s connections, her situation becomes increasingly problematic to the point that sectors of the non-radical left are abandoning her.