President Donald Trump has signed an executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court, accusing it of “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel”.
The measure places financial and visa restrictions on individuals and their families who assist in ICC investigations of American citizens or allies.
In January, the US House of Representatives voted to sanction the ICC after it issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over war crimes allegations in Gaza, which Israel denies. The ICC also issued a warrant for a Hamas commander.
At the time, the ICC said it “regrets any attempts to undermine the court’s independence, integrity and impartiality”.
The US is not a member of the ICC and has repeatedly rejected any jurisdiction by the body over American officials or citizens.
The order says that the ICC’s recent actions “set a dangerous precedent” that endanger Americans by exposing them to “harassment, abuse and possible arrest”.
“This malign conduct in turn threatens to infringe upon the sovereignty of the United States and undermines the critical national security and foreign policy work of the United States government and our allies, including Israel,” the order says.
The White House accuses the Hague-based ICC of creating a “shameful moral equivalency” between Hamas and Israel by issuing the warrants for the Israeli leaders and a Hamas commander at the same time, according to a fact sheet circulated by the White House earlier.
The White House believes the ICC is placing constraints on Israel’s right to self-defence, while accusing the body of ignoring Iran and anti-Israel groups.
Trump has repeatedly criticised the ICC, and took several steps to sanction the body during his first term in office.
At the time, he also imposed sanctions on ICC officials who were investigating whether US forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan.
The order allowed the US to block the assets of ICC employees and stop them from entering the US.
In response, the ICC said that the sanctions were an “unacceptable attempt to interfere with the rule of law”.
Founded in 2002 – in the wake of the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the Rwandan genocide – the ICC was formed to investigate alleged atrocities.
The court can only deal with crimes committed after July 2002, when the Rome Statute – which formed the ICC – came into effect.
Over 120 countries have ratified the statute, while another 34 have signed and may ratify in the future.
Neither the US nor Israel is party to the Rome Statute. The order states that “both nations are thriving democracies with militaries that strictly adhere to the laws of war”.
The ICC is a court of last resort and it is meant to intervene only when national authorities cannot or will not prosecute.
Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, also criticised the ICC’s warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, calling the move “outrageous” and saying there was no equivalence between Israel and Hamas.
Trump’s signing of the executive order comes as Netanyahu visits Washington.
In a joint press conference with the Israeli prime minister this week, Trump said the US could “take over” Gaza, which he said could become the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
He again made the claim on his Truth Social social media platform.
“The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,” Trump said on Thursday.
He repeated his belief that the idea would mean resettling Palestinians, and that no American soldiers would be deployed.
His post did not make clear whether the two million residents of the Palestinian territory would be invited to return, leaving officials scrambling to explain.
On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that any displacement would be temporary, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Gazans would leave for an “interim” period while reconstruction took place.
Arab leaders, human rights organisations and the UN have condemned the idea.
