The façade of the ICC building in The Hague. Jofelle P. Tesorio, ABS-CBN News Europe Bureau
ABS-CBN NEWS | Published February 7, 2025
WASHINGTON, United States — US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday slapping sanctions on the International Criminal Court for “baseless” investigations targeting America and its close ally Israel, the White House said.
Trump’s order said 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 America and our close ally Israel,” referring to ICC probes into alleged war crimes by US service members in Afghanistan and Israeli troops in Gaza.
The US president ordered asset freezes and travel bans against ICC officials, employees and their family members, along with anyone deemed to have helped the court’s investigations.
The sanctions are a show of support after Netanyahu’s visit to the White House, during which Trump unveiled a plan for the US to “take over” Gaza and move Palestinians to other Middle Eastern countries.
Neither the United States nor Israel are members of the court.
There was no immediate reaction from the ICC.
The ICC issued arrest warrants on November 21 for Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas’ military chief Mohammed Deif — whom Israel says is dead.
The warrants, approved after an application by ICC prosecutor Karim Khan in May, are for “crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024.”
During his first term, Trump imposed financial sanctions and a visa ban on the ICC’s then-prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, and other senior officials and staff in 2020.
Describing it as a “kangaroo court,” his then-administration made the move after Gambian-born Bensouda launched an investigation into allegations of war crimes against US soldiers in Afghanistan.
While his order at the time did not name Israel, Trump administration officials said they were also angered by Bensouda’s opening of a probe into the situation in the Palestinian territories in 2019.
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SOURCE: www.abs-cbn.com
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Fatima Rehan carries her 2-year-old son Mohammed as she and other members of the Rehan family search amid the rubble of their home destroyed by the Israeli army [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo]
AL JAZEERA | Published February 7, 2025
- US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order authorising economic and travel sanctions against people who work on International Criminal Court (ICC) investigations of US citizens or US allies, such as Israel.
- Egypt has said Trump’s plan to displace millions of Palestinians from Gaza will “incite a return of fighting”, while Jordan has warned it will spread chaos in the Middle East and jeopardise its peace with Israel.
- Trump said Israel will hand over Gaza to the US after the fighting is over and the enclave’s population was resettled elsewhere, which he said meant no US troops would be needed on the ground.
- Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz has ordered the country’s military to prepare a plan to allow the “voluntary departure” of Gaza’s residents.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed 47,583 people and injured 111,633 others, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry. The Gaza Government Media Office has updated the death toll to at least 61,709 people, saying thousands of people who were missing are now presumed dead. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, and more than 200 were taken captive.
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SOURCE: www.aljazeera.com
