In November last year, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli defense chief Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza military assault.
The United States has threatened new sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) if it does not amend its founding treaty to safeguard President Donald Trump and senior government officials from any future investigations, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
An unnamed Trump administration official told the news agency that Washington demands that the ICC also drop investigations of Israeli leaders into war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the military assault on Gaza as well as “formally” end another investigation into the actions of US troops in Afghanistan.
NEW: Washington has warned it will impose new sanctions on the International Criminal Court unless the court agrees not to pursue future cases against Trump or his senior officials.
The U.S. is also demanding the ICC drop investigations into Israeli leaders over the Gaza war and… pic.twitter.com/Tw7d6dj9OM
— Clash Report (@clashreport) December 10, 2025
The official reportedly said that the US administration has informed the Court and ICC members, including US allies, of its demands.
Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli military, with American support, has waged a genocidal assault on the Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of over 70,000 Palestinians, with more than 170,000 wounded.
In November last year, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli defense chief Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict.
Judges, Prosecutors Sanctioned
Earlier this year, the US imposed sanctions on nine ICC officials, including judges and prosecutors, in an attempt to force the Court to drop these charges, Reuters stated. The administration “stopped short of imposing sanctions on the court as an entity,” the report noted.
The official told Reuters that there “is growing concern” that in 2029, the ICC “will turn its attention to the president, to the vice president, to the secretary of war and others, and pursue prosecutions against them.”
“That is unacceptable, and we will not allow it to happen,” the official added.
Canadian ICC Judge Kimberly Prost has told Al Jazeera’s @stepvaessen that US sanctions have had a ‘crippling effect’ on her life. She’s one of nine officials sanctioned by the US for trying to prosecute American and Israeli nationals. pic.twitter.com/ch406TTwFs
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) December 3, 2025
The report noted that any effort “to change the Rome Statute to accommodate the U.S. demand would be slow and difficult, requiring approval of two-thirds of countries that have ratified the Rome Statute.”
The official insisted that “The solution is that they need to change the Rome Statute to make very clear that they don’t have jurisdiction.”
Attempts to Obstruct Court’s Work
The ICC’s Chief Prosecutor, Karim Khan, and at least four ICC judges are among those sanctioned by the US.
While the United States is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the ICC, its attempts to obstruct the court’s independent investigations are widely seen by human rights advocates and much of the international community as an affront to global justice.
Amnesty Urges “Collective Message’
Rights group Amnesty International said states “must firmly oppose” the US government’s threats and sanctions against the ICC “and protect the Court’s ability to pursue its independent and impartial mandate.
The statement was made at the beginning of the 24th Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to the Rome Statute – the ICC’s founding treaty – which ran until December 6 in The Hague.
States must oppose US threats and sanctions against the International Criminal Court.
As 125 states which make up the oversight and legislative body of the ICC meet, they must defend the Court’s ability to pursue individual responsibility, including against the most powerful… pic.twitter.com/FZlEHs5qZW
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) December 1, 2025
“ICC member states have to demonstrate their collective resolve to defend the ICC’s ability to pursue individual responsibility, including against the most powerful perpetrators, in independent and impartial proceedings,” Erika Guevara Rosas, Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns at Amnesty International, said.
Rosas emphasized that the Assembly “must send a collective message to the USA that its sanctions on the Court, which have specifically targeted ICC officials and Palestinian organizations, must be rescinded.”
‘Existential Attack’
She said the ICC “is facing existential attack from certain states, such as the USA and Russia.”
‘Flagrant Attack’ – ICC Condemns New US Sanctions against Court Officials
“The ICC’s member states must not be silent in the face of these threats; they must defend the Court’s independence and its ability to pursue individual accountability, including against those who are most powerful and would otherwise enjoy the prospect of perpetual impunity,” Rosas stressed.
(PC, Reuters)
Dondolf Trumpeldor doesn’t represent me. He is an enemy to our nation. Why is he untouchable? If any member of Congress or any person in the military refuses to take him out of power, how can we achieve that? We can’t: we’re stuck. Chained to democracy while he murders people in our name.