Gaza Warrants of Arrest: US House of Reps passes legislation to sanction ICC

The United States House of Representatives has voted to pass legislation that would sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) after its prosecutor applied for arrest warrants against Israeli officials.

The move comes after The Hague-based court’s prosecutor said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant should be arrested on charges relating to the war in Gaza.

The prosecutor is also seeking warrants for three leaders of Hamas.

The bill, proposed by pro-Israel Republicans, targets ICC officials involved in the case by blocking their entry to the United States.

On Tuesday, it passed with a majority of Republican support by a vote of 247-155. Two Republicans voted “present” and 42 pro-Israel Democrats crossed the aisle to back the legislation.

Though the bill passed in the House, it is not expected to become law.

The legislation will likely be ignored by Democrats who control the Senate, where it would have to pass before it could be signed into law by the President.

But President Joe Biden has also indicated that he “strongly opposes” the bill and the administration has said it does not support the sanctions.

If it did become law, however, the legislation would also revoke any American visas held by ICC officials and restrict them from making property transactions in the country.

Some Senate Democrats, like John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, an outspoken supporter of Israel, have indicated they would support legislation sanctioning the court.

“I really would like to sanction the ICC for that. That was trash,” Fetterman said of the arrest warrants.

Congressman Chip Roy, a Texas Republican who introduced the legislation in the House, titled the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, has called the ICC “a massive threat to American sovereignty”.

The Democrats who opposed the measure largely support Israel, but have criticised Netanyahu’s conservative government. Some Democratic opponents said it risked forcing the United States to sanction ally nations that support the ICC.

When the measure cleared the House Rules Committee on Monday, Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, said: “This bill makes a mockery of the rules-based international order that America helped build.”

The bill’s passage comes shortly after Netanyahu was invited by American lawmakers to deliver a speech to Congress this summer, although the date of his speech has not been finalised.

Last month, ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said he had “reasonable grounds” to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant, as well as Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, military chief Mohammed Deif and political leader Ismail Haniyeh, bore “criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war in Gaza.

It marked the first time the ICC has targeted the top leader of a close American ally.

“The ICC has to be punished for this action,” Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said on Tuesday. “We cannot allow this to stand.”

“If the ICC was allowed to do this and go after the leaders of countries whose actions they disagree with, why would they not come after America?”