The United States sanctioned two more judges from the International Criminal Court (ICC) – the latest step within the Trump administration’s marketing campaign to punish these concerned with efforts to research Israel’s conduct within the conflict in Gaza.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday stated he was imposing sanctions in opposition to Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia for being “directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel’s consent, including voting with the majority in favor of the ICC’s ruling against Israel’s appeal on December 15.”
On Monday, the Hague-based court docket rejected Israel’s bid to dam the continuing probe into its alleged crimes in Gaza.
In an announcement Thursday, the ICC denounced the brand new sanctions, calling them “a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution.”
“When judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk,” the assertion stated.
The US and Israel have repeatedly rejected the authority of the ICC to research both nation’s conduct.
“We will not tolerate ICC abuses of power that violate the sovereignty of the United States and Israel and wrongly subject U.S. and Israeli persons to the ICC’s jurisdiction,” Rubio stated in an announcement Thursday.
“We will continue to respond with significant and tangible consequences to the ICC’s lawfare and overreach,” he stated.
The Trump administration has imposed a slew of sanctions on ICC judges and its chief prosecutor, in addition to organizations it stated have supported the investigation.
The court docket issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024 for alleged conflict crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity. The court docket additionally issued arrest warrants for three high Hamas officers.