President Donald Trump’s administration has imposed sanctions on two judges from the International Criminal Court (ICC) due to their involvement in cases against Israel. This follows the ICC’s issuing of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defense chief Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri for alleged war crimes during the Gaza conflict. Previously, sanctions were applied to nine ICC judges and prosecutors, with threats to undermine the court’s overall function unless it dropped charges against Israeli leaders.
Additionally, the U. S. is demanding that the ICC end its investigation of U. S. troops in Afghanistan and amend its statutes to prevent prosecutions of Trump and his officials. The new sanctions prevent the named judges from traveling to the U. S. or holding U. S. assets, complicating their everyday financial activities. U. S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the ICC’s actions against Israel are politicized and a violation of U. S. and Israeli sovereignty.
The judges, Gocha Lordkipanidze and Erdenebalsuren Damdin, were involved in a panel that rejected Israeli legal challenges regarding the ICC’s investigations. The ICC criticized the sanctions, describing them as an attack on judicial independence and a threat to the international legal order. Notably, both the U. S. and Israel are not ICC members, while Palestinian territories became a member state in 2015. The ICC, with 125 member states, prosecutes individuals for crimes under its jurisdiction, including actions by heads of state.
With information from Reuters
