ICC condemns Trump's sanctions against its staff

The International Criminal Court (ICC) today said it condemned the decision by US President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on its staff, Reuters reports.

Trump yesterday authorized economic and travel sanctions targeting people who work on International Criminal Court investigations of US citizens or US allies such as Israel, repeating action he took during his first term.

This came one week after efforts by pro-Israel lawmakers to punish the ICC for trying to hold the apartheid state to account for war crimes and crimes against humanity suffered a blow after Democrat senators struck down a bill aimed at imposing sanctions on court officials.

The ICC’s decision to investigate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes has sparked controversy in Washington. The court’s Prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced in May that he would pursue charges against both parties following Israel’s military onslaught on Gaza, which has claimed more than 47,300 lives, the vast majority of whom are women and children.

Netanyahu was given immunity when he arrived in Washington this week to meet with Trump.

Read: Switzerland launches probe into ‘suspected ‘Israeli war criminal’, rights group says