Trump Targets ICC With Sanctions Over Probes Into US, Israel
US President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday to sanction the International Criminal Court for targeting the US and its allies, including Israel, according to a White House official. The order will impose financial and visa sanctions on individuals and their family members who aid ICC investigations of US citizens or US allies.
The move comes after Senate Democrats blocked a Republican-led effort to sanction the ICC in protest of its arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over Israel’s campaign in Gaza. Netanyahu is currently visiting Washington.
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The ICC has yet to comment on the new executive order. The court has taken steps to shield its staff from potential US sanctions, including paying salaries three months in advance, as it prepared for possible financial restrictions that could hamper its operations. In December, ICC President Judge Tomoko Akane warned that such sanctions could “rapidly undermine the Court’s operations in all situations and cases, and jeopardise its very existence.”
This marks the second instance of US retaliation against the ICC. In 2020, during Trump’s first administration, Washington imposed sanctions on then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one of her top aides in response to the ICC’s investigation into alleged war crimes committed by American troops in Afghanistan.
The 125-member ICC is a permanent court that can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and crimes of aggression. However, the United States, China, Russia, and Israel are not members of the court.
