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.
Trump signed the measure as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting Washington.
Last November, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza, which Israel denies. The ICC also issued a warrant for a Hamas commander.
A White House fact sheet circulated on Thursday accused the Hague-based ICC of creating a “shameful moral equivalency” between Hamas and Israel by issuing the warrants at the same time.
Trump’s executive order said the ICC’s recent actions “set a dangerous precedent” that endangered 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 said.
The US is not a member of the ICC and has repeatedly rejected any jurisdiction by the body over American officials or citizens.
The White House accused the ICC of placing constraints on Israel’s right to self-defence, while ignoring Iran and anti-Israel groups.
In his first term in office, Trump imposed sanctions on ICC officials who were investigating whether US forces had committed war crimes in Afghanistan. Those sanctions were lifted by President Joe Biden’s administration.
Last month, the US House of Representatives voted to sanction the ICC, but the bill foundered in the Senate.
The ICC was founded in 2002 – in the wake of the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the Rwandan genocide – to investigate alleged atrocities.
Over 120 countries have ratified the Rome Statute – which established the ICC – while another 34 have signed and may ratify in the future.
Neither the US nor Israel is party to the Rome Statute.
The ICC is a court of last resort and is meant to intervene only when national authorities cannot or will not prosecute.
Trumps executive order said that “both nations [the US and Israel] are thriving democracies with militaries that strictly adhere to the laws of war”.
During his last weeks in office, President Biden also criticised the ICC’s warrant for Netanyahu, calling the move “outrageous” and saying there was no equivalence between Israel and Hamas.
Trump’s signing of his latest executive order follows his announcement during a joint press conference with the Israeli prime minister on Tuesday of a plan for the US to “take over” Gaza, resettle its Palestinian population and turn the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
After Arab leaders and the UN condemned the idea, the US president restated it on his Truth Social social media platform on Thursday.
“The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,” Trump wrote, referring to the war between Israel and Hamas that is currently under a ceasefire.
He repeated that the plan would involve 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.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday any displacement would be temporary.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Gazans would leave for an “interim” period while reconstruction took place.
Trump signed the order as Netanyahu continued his visit to Washington, meeting lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties on Capitol Hill.
The Israeli prime minister also presented a golden pager to Trump.
The gift was a reference to Israel’s deadly operation against Hezbollah in September last year, using booby-trapped communications devices.
Dozens of people were killed and thousands injured in the attacks. Lebanese officials said civilians were hit in the explosions.
By BBC News
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