The United States escalated its dispute with the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday, imposing sanctions on two more judges involved in the investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio explicitly linked the new sanctions to a recent ICC ruling after judges upheld arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. This decision prompted the immediate US response.
“We will not tolerate ICC abuses of power that violate the sovereignty of the United States and Israel,” Rubio stated. He further warned, “We will continue to respond with significant and tangible consequences to the ICC’s lawfare and overreach.”
The Trump administration has now sanctioned at least eight ICC judges and three prosecutors, including Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan.
ICC’s Firm Rejection
The Hague-based court issued a strong rebuttal to Washington’s actions, “strongly rejecting” these sanctions, calling them a “flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution.”
The newly sanctioned judges are Gocha Lordkipanidze, a former Georgian justice minister, and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia. Consequently, they now face a US entry ban and blocked property or financial transactions, with Lordkipanidze previously serving as an adjunct professor at Columbia University.
Monday’s 44-page ICC ruling upheld the probe into alleged war crimes during Israel’s Gaza offensive, following the 7 October, 2023, Hamas attacks. Netanyahu and Gallant face accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Palestinian territory.
Neither the United States nor Israel are member states of the ICC. The court functions as a last resort for accountability. Furthermore, virtually all other Western democracies support the international tribunal.
