US House seeks to sanction ICC for accusing Israel of Gaza war crimes
Al Jazeera
Approval in Senate unlikely, but vote illustrates continued unconditional support for Israel among US lawmakers.
United States lawmakers have passed legislation that aims to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) due to its efforts to prosecute Israeli officials for war crimes in Gaza.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted 247-155 in favour of the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act on Tuesday. The bill would bar US entry and restrict any US-based property transactions for ICC officials involved with the request by prosecutors for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The vote is viewed as largely symbolic, but it illustrates the unconditional support that persists among the majority of lawmakers in the main parties in the US.
Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro said several procedural hoops remain before any sanctions could be enforced.
While US President Joe Biden expressed “deep concerns” about the bid for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, he has strongly opposed sanctions against the ICC, saying they were “going too far”.
