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US planning to hit entire International Criminal Court with sanctions over Israel investigation: Report
A State Department spokesperson accused the court of asserting what it said was its "purported jurisdiction" over US and Israeli personnel.
The United States is considering imposing sanctions against the entire International Criminal Court (ICC), putting the court's day-to-day operations in jeopardy in retaliation for investigations of suspected Israeli war crimes.
According to an exclusive Reuters report, a decision on such "entity sanctions" was expected as soon as this week. Sources quoted in the report said the court officials and court member state diplomats had already held emergency internal meetings to discuss the impact of potential blanket sanctions.
According to a US official quoted by Reuters, entity-wide sanctions were being considered. However, the source did not elaborate on the timing of the possible move.
Washington has already imposed targeted sanctions on several court prosecutors and judges, but naming the court itself on the sanctions list would be a major escalation.
A State Department spokesperson accused the court of asserting what it said was its "purported jurisdiction" over US and Israeli personnel and said that Washington was going to take further steps, although the spokesperson did not say exactly what.
"It has the opportunity to change course by making critical and appropriate structural changes. The US will take additional steps to protect our brave service members and others as long as the ICC continues to present a threat to our national interests," the spokesperson said.
Why sanctions on ICC?
The ICC, based in The Hague, has indicted Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, as well as figures from the Hamas militant group, for alleged crimes committed during the Gaza war. Washington has previously targeted court officials with sanctions for their roles in those cases and in a separate investigation into suspected crimes in Afghanistan, which initially had looked at actions by US troops.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has called the court "a national security threat that has been an instrument for lawfare" against the United States and its ally Israel.
The court was founded in 2002 under a treaty giving it jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes that were either committed by a citizen of a member state or had taken place on a member's territory.
Israel and the United States are not members. The court recognises the state of Palestine as a member and has ruled that this gives it jurisdiction over actions on Palestinian territory. Israel and the United States reject this notion. The White House imposed sanctions in February on the court's lead prosecutor, Karim Khan, who had requested the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.
