US House passes bill to sanction ICC over Israel
The Republican-led US House of Representatives passed legislation that would impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court over its prosecutor’s decision to seek arrest warrants for Israeli officials related to the war in Gaza.
The vote was 247 to 155, with 42 Democrats joining Republicans in backing the measure. There were no Republican “nay” votes, although two voted “present.”
The measure is not expected to become law, but reflects continuing support for Israel in Congress amid international criticism over the regime’s campaign in the Gaza Strip.
The White House last month criticized the ICC’s decision to seek the warrants.
The bill is not expected to be brought up for a vote in the Senate, which is narrowly controlled by Biden’s fellow Democrats.
The legislation would impose sanctions on people involved in ICC prosecutions of Americans or citizens of US allies that are not ICC members, including Israel.
It also would block such ICC officials’ entry to the United States, revoke any US visas and restrict them from US property transactions.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said last month – after more than seven months of war in Gaza – that he had reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu’s defense chief and three Hamas leaders “bear criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Israel launched an air and ground offensive in Gaza last October, vowing to destroy Hamas after the resistance fighters launched the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on the occupied territories on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 people captives.
The Israeli military campaign has killed more than 36,000 people in densely populated Gaza, according to its health authorities, who say thousands more bodies are buried under rubble.
Last week, an investigation by the Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call revealed a covert Israeli campaign to derail the ICC’s inquiry into war crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The investigation detailed how, for close to a decade, Israel deployed its intelligence agencies to surveil and pressure senior ICC staff in an effort to thwart the court’s work, going so far as to deploy the head of the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, to allegedly threaten the court’s former chief prosecutor.
Created by a UN treaty in 2002, the ICC investigates and brings to justice those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, intervening when national authorities cannot or will not prosecute.
The US - like Israel - is not a member of the ICC and does not recognize its jurisdiction, but has backed its previous prosecutions and arrest warrants not related to Israel and the Palestinians.
In 2020 under the Trump administration, the US imposed sanctions on top ICC officials, including Khan’s predecessor, after the court began investigating alleged war crimes committed by the US and others in the Afghan conflict.