Republican-led US House votes to sanction ICC, defends Israel against war crime charges
US House of Representatives
In a significant move, the Republican-led US House of Representatives has passed a legislation that seeks to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC). These bills and the subsequent sanctions are in response to the ICC prosecutor's decision to pursue arrest warrants for Israeli officials related to the ongoing war in Gaza.
America supports Israel
Titled the US House's "Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act",Reuters reports that the contentious vote ended with 247 lawmakers in favour and 155 against. This includes support from 42 Democrats.
Notably, none of the Republicans voted "nay," although two opted to vote "present" instead of an "aye".
In s statement, as reported by AFP, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said, "Today's vote draws a line in the sand for lawless action by ICC officials."
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"The US firmly stands with Israel and refuses to allow international bureaucrats to baselessly issue arrest warrants to Israeli leadership for false crimes," he added.
Will it become a law?
While the bill is not expected to become law, as per the report, it underscores the strong backing for Israel in Congress amidst international criticism of its Gaza campaign.
Last month, the White House had also condemned the ICC's decision to seek these arrest warrants.
It is unlikely to take up the measure for a vote in the Senate, which has a narrow Democratic majority.
However, if it were to pass, the legislation would impose sanctions on individuals involved in ICC prosecutions of Americans or citizens of US allies who are not members of the ICC, such as Israel.
These sanctions would include barring entry to the US, revoking visas, and restricting them from property transactions in the nation.
ICC's stand
Recently, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said that after more than seven months into the conflict in Gaza, there were reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu andhis defence chief "bear criminal responsibility" for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Khan also sought to penalise three Hamas leaders for the same.
Netanyahu, however, called the ICC's decision absurd, arguing that it targets all of Israel.
The Gaza conflict escalated dramatically last October, when Israel launched an extensive air and ground offensive in Gaza, aiming to dismantle Hamas. This was retaliation for a brutal Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, which left around 1,200 people dead and over 250 taken hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Currently, approximately 120 hostages remain in Gaza.
Meanwhile, according to local health authorities, the Israeli military's retaliatory campaign has resulted in over 36,000 deaths in densely populated Gaza. They alsoreport that thousands of bodies remain buried under rubble.
(With inputs from agencies)