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ICC rejects Trump's sanctions and pledges to keep working

Trump issued an executive order Thursday whereby ICC members or staffers and their relatives, including their bank accounts and possessions on US soil, can be seized

The International Criminal Court (ICC) Friday condemned US President Donald Trump's sanctions against the United Nations tribunal while pledging to keep working. The Republican leader's move was deemed an attempt to “harm its independent and impartial judicial work.”

“The Court stands firmly by its personnel and pledges to continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world,” the court said in a statement.

“We call on our 125 States Parties, civil society, and all nations of the world to stand united for justice and fundamental human rights,” it went on.

“Sanctioning the ICC threatens the court’s independence and undermines the international criminal justice system as a whole,” said European Council President António Costa, who heads the summits of the European Union's 27 leaders.

Trump's executive order was issued as a consequence of the ICC's “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel,” including the Nov. 2024 arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The ICC arrest warrants at the time also included the late Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, one of the masterminds of the Oct. 7 attack, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Washington argued that the ICC had no jurisdiction because neither Israel nor the US were signatories of the ICC-founding Treaty of Rome.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the ICC “must be able to freely pursue the fight against global impunity. Europe will always stand for justice and the respect of international law.”

“The Netherlands regrets the executive order imposing sanctions on the ICC. The court’s work is essential in the fight against impunity,” Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp said in a statement. The ICC is based in that country, more specifically in The Hague.

As per Trump's executive order, the US would impose “tangible and significant consequences” on those responsible for the ICC’s “transgressions.” Actions may include blocking property and assets and not allowing ICC officials, employees, and relatives to enter the United States. The US Treasury and State Department will determine which people and organizations will be sanctioned. At least two senior staff members at the court have resigned since Trump was elected to avoid sanctions.

The warrants' rationale contended that Netanyahu used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid, thus intentionally targeting civilians as Israel marched into Gaza following the pro-Palestine terrorist group Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, raids in which many Israeli civilians were slaughtered or abducted.

“The ICC has recently turned itself into a biased political tool and has discredited the entire international court system,” Hungary's Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said. “Its decisions have also only contributed to exacerbating insecurity in already difficult parts of the world.”

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said that “the ICC’s actions are immoral and have no legal basis.”

It was not the first time Trump imposed sanctions on the ICC. During his previous term in office, he punished former prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one of her deputies over their investigations into crimes committed in Afghanistan. But Joseph Biden lifted those measures in 2021.

On Thursday, Trump said the ICC had “abused its power by issuing baseless arrest warrants” targeting Netanyahu and Gallant. Its actions, he claimed, “set a dangerous precedent, directly endangering current and former US personnel” and posed an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to national security. Trump also said he “expects our allies to oppose” any ICC actions against the US and Israel.

The ICC investigates and prosecutes individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and crimes of aggression against the territory of its member states, of which there are 125. Neither the US nor Israel are members. The ICC is a court of last resort, and should only step in when local authorities are unable or unwilling to handle those cases.

Countries having signed the Treaty of Rome should arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they set foot on their soil. The ICC accepted Palestine as a member in 2015, giving it jurisdiction over international crimes that take place in Gaza.

The ICC prosecutes individuals whereas the International Court of Justice (ICJ) prosecutes states. Last year, the ICJ ruled that Palestinians in Gaza have “plausible rights to protection from genocide” – rights to which Israel’s offensive in the strip risked causing irreparable damage. The court also ordered Israel to immediately halt its offensive in the southern city of Rafah, which Israel ignored.