Reuters: US Imposes Sanctions on ICC Over Netanyahu Case

The administration of US President Donald Trump is imposing sanctions on representatives of the International Criminal Court amid investigations into Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip and an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This is reported in a Reuters investigation.

According to the outlet, those hit by US sanctions include the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, as well as eight ICC judges and three prosecutors. The restrictions against Albanese were introduced after her report on the activities of major companies which, in her assessment, contribute to violations of Palestinians’ rights.

The companies mentioned include Alphabet, Amazon, Caterpillar, Chevron, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft and Palantir. Albanese urged them to cut ties with Israel and warned executives about possible breaches of international law.

After that, the companies complained to Trump about the rapporteur’s actions. The US imposed sanctions on Albanese despite UN statements that she enjoys diplomatic immunity.

A separate cause of the dispute between Washington and the ICC was the court’s decision in November 2024 to issue arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant.

Read alsoThe ICC issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant

According to Reuters, the White House is also demanding that the ICC amend its founding statute to prevent investigations targeting Trump and his closest aides. The US State Department continues to work on new sanctions, including against lower-level court staff, to secure an end to the Gaza investigations.

US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said Washington will not allow the ICC to violate the country’s sovereignty or, as the US sees it, unlawfully apply its jurisdiction to American and Israeli citizens.

He also said the United States no longer intends to take part in international organisations or fund them if it believes their activities run counter to US national interests.

At the same time, David Milstein, a senior adviser to the US ambassador to Israel, criticised the slow implementation of the sanctions decision and urged the Trump administration to extend the restrictions to the entire organisation.

The sanctions are also affecting investigations related to Russia. Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Ukrainian Centre for Civil Liberties, told Reuters that the US restrictions are complicating the ICC’s work on cases involving Russia’s war crimes against Ukraine, including the torture of Ukrainians in Russian prisons.

Francesca Albanese herself considers the sanctions imposed on her to be unlawful.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also announced the imposition of sanctions on social media platform X.

He said the US does not recognise the ICC’s jurisdiction over its citizens because the country has not joined the court. Rubio accused the institution of trying to expand its powers at the expense of US sovereignty.

“That is why today the United States is imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court. We will ban transactions with this harmful court, depriving it of resources and reducing its ability to work against us. Our message is simple: the United States and Americans are not subject to the jurisdiction of this fake court,” the secretary of state said.

Rubio also urged US allies who are ICC members to curb the court’s activities. He said that if this does not happen, Washington will continue dismantling the organisation through sanctions.

“Either the ICC stops its threats, or we will stop the ICC,” Rubio stressed.

He added that, in the Trump administration’s view, only the US president has the resolve to put an end to the threat the court allegedly poses to American citizens.