Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, is facing mounting pressure from pro-Israel groups and politicians demanding the end of her mandate, The New Arab reported.

Her three-year term is set to conclude this week, and the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will vote on its renewal on April 4.

Several countries have indicated reluctance to support her reappointment due to her outspoken criticism of Israel.

Albanese has consistently highlighted what she describes as ethnic cleansing and genocide against Palestinians in her official reports and media appearances.

The backlash against Albanese has been fuelled by figures like British Labour MP David Taylor, who accused her of justifying Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack and portraying Israel as a "settler-colonial invasion" in an interview to The Jewish Chronicle, a pro-Israel newspaper.

Pro-Israel organisations, including UN Watch, have been at the forefront of the campaign against her.

UN Watch has published a 60-page report accusing Albanese of promoting anti-Semitism and "terrorism" under her UN role. The organisation also launched a petition urging the UNHRC to reject her reappointment.

At a recent UNHRC session in Geneva, UN Watch's director Hillel Neuer called for the immediate termination of Albanese's mandate.

Other groups, including the World Jewish Congress and the Zionist youth organisation Betar, have also targeted Albanese.

Betar allegedly threatened to attack her during a recent visit to London, referencing Israel's deadly air strikes in Lebanon last year.

Undeterred

Political opposition to Albanese's reappointment is also growing.

In France, 42 MPs signed a statement urging their government to block her from continuing in her role, arguing that her rhetoric undermines human rights credibility, according to the pro-Israel UN Watch.

In the US, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast led congressional demands for the UNHRC to reject her reappointment, claiming she "sided with Hamas terrorists and accused Israel of genocide".

In the Netherlands, Dutch Foreign Minister Kajsa Ollongren said, in response to questions from the fundamentalist Protestant party SGP, that the country does not support a second term for Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Representative in Gaza.

Albanese, however, remains defiant in the face of these efforts.

In her latest UN report, released two weeks ago, she warned that Palestinians are at risk of mass ethnic cleansing as Israel seeks to seize more land under the guise of war.

She compared Israel's current actions to the Nakba of 1947-1949 and the Naksa of 1967, arguing that history is repeating itself while the world looks away.

She has urged the international community to take concrete action, calling for the enforcement of an International Court of Justice advisory opinion that deems Israel's occupation illegal.

She also demanded binding measures to prevent genocide in Gaza, emphasising that only decisive international intervention can protect Palestinians from further displacement and violence.