US slaps sanctions on two more ICC judges over cases against Israel

Court decries ‘flagrant attack’ on ‘impartial judicial institution’ as Israel praises move; Rubio links fresh sanctions to Monday vote to uphold Netanyahu, Gallant arrest warrants

The Trump administration imposed fresh sanctions Thursday on two more judges of the International Criminal Court due to their targeting of Israeli government officials over the Gaza war.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions against Georgian judge Gocha Lordkipanidze and Mongolian judge Erdenebalsuren Damdin in a written statement.

He linked the move to a vote on Monday in which the two upheld arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.

“These individuals have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute Israeli nationals without Israel’s consent,” he said.

“We will not tolerate ICC abuses of power that violate the sovereignty of the United States and Israel and wrongly subject US and Israeli persons to the ICC’s jurisdiction,” the top diplomat continued. “We will continue to respond with significant and tangible consequences to the ICC’s lawfare and overreach.”

The US sanctions include freezing any US assets of those designated and barring them and their families from visiting the United States.

It marked the third batch of sanctions issued by the US against the judicial body, bringing the number of sanctioned ICC judges to eight, after six were designated over the summer.

At least three prosecutors, including chief prosecutor Karim Khan, are also subject to sanctions.

The Hague-based ICC responded that it “strongly rejects” the move. The measures are “a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution,” the court said in a statement.

Israel, for its part, praised the sanctions. “Thank you, Secretary Rubio, for this moral, clear stance,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar wrote on X.

The US and Israel are not members of the ICC.

The sanctioned judges’ votes were cast to support a 44-page ruling that upholds the decision to investigate alleged war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza, over the course of its two-year war with Hamas.

Judges found there was reason to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant may have committed war crimes by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeting civilians during the war — charges Israeli officials strongly deny. Netanyahu’s office called the accusations “antisemitic” and said it rejected them “with disgust.”

Israel has long rejected the allegations against it, asserting that the war, with the declared aims of returning the hostages taken by Hamas, defeating the terror group, and preventing a future threat from Gaza, has been fought in accordance with international law.

Israel also entirely rejects the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court. It argues that since the terms of the Oslo Accords explicitly deny any Palestinian entity legal jurisdiction over Israeli nationals, the Palestinian Authority never had the right to delegate jurisdiction to the ICC in the first place.

According to a recent report, officials sanctioned by the US in recent months are struggling to live and work due to the unpredictable financial and travel restrictions imposed by the superpower.

The ICC is also facing a leadership crisis after, earlier this year, Khan stepped aside pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct. He denies the allegations.