The US State Department has imposed sanctions on three Palestinian human rights groups and called on the International Criminal Court to investigate and arrest Israeli leaders for charges of war crimes in Gaza.
Late last year, the ICC issued arrest warrants to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defence Minister Joa Garant, and the now-deceased Hamas officials.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that the US will sanction three NGOs: Alhak, the Armesan Human Rights Centre (Armesan) and the Palestinian Human Rights Centre (PCHR).
The organization “is making a direct effort by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute Israeli citizens without Israeli consent,” Rubio said in a statement posted on the U.S. Treasury Department’s website.
The US sanctions come days after one of the world’s leading genocide scholars said Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide. Israel refused to file charges, saying it was based on Hamas’ “false campaign.” It previously rejected genocide or other charges of committing war crimes.
In a joint statement posted to X, Al Haq, Al Mezan, and PCHR condemned recent US sanctions as “immoral, illegal, and undemocratic.”
In November 2023, three groups filed a lawsuit with the ICC, asking prosecutors to investigate Israel over air strikes in Gaza’s densely populated areas, forced displacement of populations, use of toxic gases, and rejection of need to include food and water.
The organisation also urged the ICC to issue arrest warrants to Israeli leaders involved in actions that amounted to “war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide.”
In November 2024, the ICC issued a warrant to Netanyahu and former defense chief Joab Gallant for war crimes, including “hunger as a way of war” and crimes against humanity.
The court also issued a warrant to Hamas official Mohamed Dafe, who said Israel was one of the leaders of the October 7 attack. Israel said Deif was killed in an airstrike last year.
President Donald Trump’s administration has campaigned to punish organizations involved in the ICC’s efforts to investigate Israel’s actions in the war in Gaza. The White House is highly critical of the Netherlands-based courts, investigating and prosecuting individuals who have been charged with the most terrible international crimes under a treaty called Roman law.
The US has imposed sanctions on nine people working for the ICC, including chief prosecutor Karim Khan. It also enacted a policy of denying and revoking visas for Palestinian authorities and members of the Palestinian Liberation Agency for its “legal” campaign at the ICC and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Rubio said Thursday that the United States will “continue to respond with significant and concrete consequences to “ignorance of our military, sovereignty and allies” to ignore the sovereignty of the ICC and punish the entities that are complicit in its overreach.”
Al Haq, the Al Mezan Center and PCHR denounced the “Draconian” sanctions in joint statements posted to their respective X accounts.
“Only states that completely ignore international law can take such heinous steps against human rights organizations that work to end genocide,” the organization said.
“As the world moves to impose sanctions and arms embargo on Israel, its allies are working to destroy Palestinian institutions that are working tirelessly to account for the victims of Israeli mass atrocities,” the statement continued.
Israel, like the United States, is not a member of the ICC and challenges the court’s jurisdiction over litigation in disputes. This is a challenge the court rejected on Thursday.
The ICC has argued for jurisdiction over Israeli occupied territory, including Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank, following the formal agreement by Palestinian leaders to be bound by the court’s establishment principles in 2015.
Amnesty International called the US decision to impose sanctions “a global pursuit of deep, troubling and shameful attacks on human rights and justice.”
“These organizations will carry out important and courageous work that meticulously document human rights abuses under the most frightening conditions,” Erica Guevara Rosas, senior director of research, advocacy, policy and campaign, said in a statement.
“The decision also exposes all the deliberate efforts of the Trump administration to dismantle the foundations of international justice and protect Israel from accountability for its crimes,” Guevara Rosas said.
