News / Palestine

US House passes ICC sanctions bill to protect Israeli war criminals

Friday, 10 January 2025 7:24 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 10 January 2025 8:40 AM ]

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold up banners and an effigy of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they denounce his visit to the US, at the Capitol in Washington, on July 24, 2024.

The US House of Representatives has approved a bill to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) officials in response to the arrest warrants that the tribunal has issued against Israeli authorities for war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

House lawmakers on Thursday voted 243-140 in favor of to the legislative text, which was introduced by Republican Representatives Chip Roy and Brian Mast.

The bill, which now heads to the Republican-controlled Senate, stipulates that the warrants against the Israeli officials should be “condemned in the strongest possible terms.”

It also urges sanctions with respect to the court over “any effort to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies.” The sanctions include prohibiting US property transactions and blocking and revoking visas.

Last year, the ICC, based in The Hague, issued warrants for the arrest of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza.

In response, the House passed the ICC sanctions bill, but it was not brought to a vote in the Senate, which was then under Democratic control. Thursday's vote was the second time that the chamber has voted for the pro-Israel measure.

US House passes bill to sanction ICC over Netanyahu's arrest warrant request

The US House of Representatives passes legislation to impose sanctions on the ICC for seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu.

"Human rights lawyers and others documenting the worst atrocities committed on this planet are heroes who should be celebrated—not punished when the war criminals they pursue are allies of the United States," Representative Ilhan Omar, who voted against the bill, said on X.

Representative Rashida Tlaib said in an X post that the bill is aimed at protecting "genocidal maniac Netanyahu so he can continue the genocide in Gaza."

What’s their top priority the first week of the new Congress? Lowering costs? Addressing the housing crisis? No, it's sanctioning the International Criminal Court to protect genocidal maniac Netanyahu so he can continue the genocide in Gaza.
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) January 9, 2025

Israel launched its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out a surprise operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

So far, the criminal regime has killed at least 46,006 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 109,378 others, in the besieged territory.

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