US House passes bill to ban International Criminal Court from interfering with Israel
US passes bill banning International Criminal Court
Washington:
The Republican-led US House of Representatives has passed a bill that would impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court over its prosecutor’s decision to seek arrest warrants for Israeli officials linked to the war in Gaza.
The vote was 247 to 155, with 42 Democrats supporting the measure along with Republicans. Republicans had no “nay” votes, though two voted “present.”
The measure is not expected to become law, but it reflects continued support for Israel in Congress amid international criticism over the Middle Eastern country’s operations in the Gaza Strip.
Last month, the White House criticized the ICC’s decision to seek the warrant.
The bill is not expected to come to a vote in the Senate, which Biden’s fellow Democrats have narrow control over.
The bill would ban those who are prosecuted by the ICC from being Americans or citizens of non-ICC member countries (including Israel).
It would also block such ICC officials from entering the United States, revoke their US visas, and bar them from transacting US assets.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said last month — after more than seven months of war in Gaza — that he had reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu’s defense chief and three Hamas leaders “bear criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Netanyahu said the ICC prosecutor’s decision was absurd and the move was aimed at targeting the whole of Israel.
Israel launched an air and ground offensive in Gaza last October, vowing to destroy Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. About 120 hostages are still being held in Gaza.
The Israeli military campaign has killed more than 36,000 people in densely populated Gaza, and thousands more bodies remain buried under rubble, according to Israeli health officials.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)