President Donald Trump is poised to sign an executive order on Thursday, wielding the might of American sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC).
This development follows the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants in November 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes during Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
The ICC alleges that Netanyahu and Gallant employed “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeting civilians—charges that Israeli officials have vehemently denied, labeling them as false and antisemitic.
Other accusations are:
- Wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health contrary to article 8(2)(a)(iii), or cruel treatment as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
- Wilful killing contrary to article 8(2)(a)(i), or Murder as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
- Intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as a war crime contrary to articles 8(2)(b)(i), or 8(2)(e)(i);
- Extermination and/or murder contrary to articles 7(1)(b) and 7(1)(a), including in the context of deaths caused by starvation, as a crime against humanity;
- Persecution as a crime against humanity contrary to article 7(1)(h);
- Other inhumane acts as crimes against humanity contrary to article 7(1)(k).”
President Donald Trump’s decision to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) follows the recent blockage by Senate Democrats of a Republican-led bill aimed at sanctioning the ICC for issuing arrest warrants.
On Tuesday night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill aimed at sanctioning the ICC for issuing arrest warrants against Israeli leadership, with a vote of 247 to 155. All opposition came from Democrat lawmakers.
Despite this, the bill was ultimately thwarted by Senate Democrats, leading to Trump’s decision to act unilaterally with sanctions.
According to Reuters, the executive order will authorize financial and visa restrictions on individuals and their family members who assist in ICC investigations involving U.S. citizens or allied nations, including Israel.
A White House official stated, “The United States will not stand idly by as the ICC targets our citizens and allies with politically motivated investigations.”
More from the news outlet:
The ICC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The court has taken measures to shield staff from possible U.S. sanctions, paying salaries three months in advance, as it braced for financial restrictions that could cripple the war crimes tribunal, sources told Reuters last month.
In December, the court’s president, judge Tomoko Akane, warned that sanctions would “rapidly undermine the Court’s operations in all situations and cases, and jeopardise its very existence.”
This is the second time the court has faced U.S. retaliation as a result of its work. During the first Trump administration in 2020, Washington imposed sanctions on then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one of her top aides over the ICC’s investigation into alleged war crimes 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 the crime of aggression against the territory of member states or by their nationals. The United States, China, Russia and Israel are not members.
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