The Trump administration is preparing a new round of sanctions targeting the International Criminal Court (ICC) that could significantly limit the tribunal’s ability to operate within the international financial system, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
Under the reported measures, most transactions involving the ICC would be prohibited following a six- to seven-month grace period. The restrictions could also prevent the court from carrying out transactions in US dollars.
A decision could reportedly be announced as early as this week, coinciding with the United Nations General Assembly.
The proposed action would expand substantially beyond the sanctions Washington has already imposed on individual ICC officials following the court’s issuance of arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza.
The United States has previously sanctioned at least 11 ICC officials, including nine judges. Those measures include asset freezes, travel restrictions and limits on the services that US companies can provide to designated individuals.
Last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions against ICC President Tomoko Akane and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye. Rubio said the Japanese ICC president and Senegalese senior lawyer were being targeted for their involvement in efforts to "prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction".
Neither the United States nor Israel is a party to the Rome Statute establishing the ICC. The Palestinian Authority joined the court in 2015, giving it jurisdiction to examine alleged crimes committed in areas under its jurisdiction.
Former ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan was also sanctioned by Washington last year. He was recently removed from his duties following an internal investigation into allegations of misconduct.
Rubio has previously described the administration’s broader approach to the court as a “sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court to US sovereignty."
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Yom Kippur in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)