House Votes $1. 5 Million Fine for ICC Over Israel Warrant

The U.S. House passed a bill to sanction International Criminal Court officials for seeking arrest warrants against Israeli leaders over the Gaza conflict, though it faces an uphill battle.

Despite this, the U. S. House of Representatives has adopted a measure that would penalize individuals in the I.C.C. since the prosecutor of the I.C.C. had requested arrest warrants for Israeli leaders over alleged crimes about the Gaza situation.

The House passed the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act on Tuesday with the Republican majority by a 247-155 vote with 42 Democrats voting in favor of the bill. It also seeks to prevent ICC officials who took part in the case from entering the United States, freezing their US visas, and limiting their capacity to engage in property deals in the country.

The legislation was passed by the pro-Israel Republicans in response to the ICC prosecutor who recently asked for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The prosecutor charged they have criminal responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity that occurred during the hostilities in Gaza.

Although the bill was approved in the House, its adoption can be problematic in the Democrat-led Senate and the Biden administration, which stated that it ‘strongly opposes’ the sanctions while also calling the ICC’s attempts to prosecute US allies ‘outrageous. ’

None of the accused are in the ICC’s jurisdiction and Israel, like the US, is not a member of the ICC, but Netanyahu referred to the attempted prosecutions as a “moral outrage” while Hamas has rejected the warrants against its leaders as well.

Amber Hodges and supporters of the House bill such as Speaker Mike Johnson said that the ICC is a ‘massive threat’ to the sovereignty of the United States because it targets allied countries. However, critics said that it could prompt the U. S. to impose sanctions on allies who work with the ICC.

Also Read: America is now ready to support sanctions on the ICC for extending arrest warrants to Israel

Its fate remains in the balance but the act passed in Congress is a response to the ICC decision regarding Israeli officials and Palestinian militants over the fatal Gaza issue.