US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order slapping sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) for what he called baseless investigations targeting America and its close ally Israel over genocide in Gaza.
Trump's order said on Thursday the court in The Hague had "abused its power" by issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who held talks with the US president on Tuesday.
The order also said the tribunal had engaged in "illegitimate and baseless actions targeting the United States and Israel," referring to ICC’s probes into US war crimes in Afghanistan and Israel's onslaught on Gaza.
The order includes asset freezes and travel bans against ICC officials, employees, and their family members, along with anyone deemed to have helped the court's investigations.
Last November, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former minister of military affairs, Yoav Gallant.
The warrants are for "crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024."
The court’s Pre-Trial Chamber I issued warrants of arrest for Netanyahu and Gallant "for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest”, it confirmed in a statement Thursday.
It was the first instance in the court's 22-year history it had issued arrest warrants for Western-allied senior officials.
In its statement, the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber I, a panel of three judges, said it has rejected appeals by Israel challenging its jurisdiction.
Trump imposed financial sanctions and a visa ban during his first term on the ICC's then-prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, and other senior officials and staff in 2020.
Trump’s then-administration made the move after Bensouda launched an investigation into allegations of war crimes against US soldiers in Afghanistan.
President Joe Biden lifted the sanctions soon after taking office in 2021.
In January 2024, the international court of justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel must take all measures within its power to prevent genocide in Gaza. However, the regime has ignored the court's verdict.
Cuba has now officially declared its intention to join South Africa’s case against Israel at the ICJ. Cuba is the 14th country to join the case.
In December 2023, South Africa initiated legal proceedings against Israel, accusing it of breaching the Genocide Convention in its treatment of Palestinians in Gaza.
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