By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

The ICC‘s Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan announced last month that his office had filed applications for arrest against Netanyahyu and Gallant.

The US House of Representatives has voted to pass legislation that would sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) after its chief prosecutor decided to seek arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The bill, which would bar ICC officials from entry into the United States, was passed on Tuesday with a vote of 247 to 155. Co-sponsored by more than 60 Republicans, the bill was backed by 42 Democrats.

It would impose “impose sanctions on anyone involved in ICC investigations or prosecutions of Americans or citizens of US allies that are not ICC members, such as Israel,” according to the Axios news site.

The bill, however, is reportedly unlikely to become law and is seen as largely symbolic.

Efforts Underway to Issue ICC Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu, Sinwar – Developing Story

According to The Guardian, both the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee “acknowledged the bill is unlikely to become law and left the door open to further negotiation with the White House.”

‘We Don’t Support Sanctions’

In reply to a question regarding the vote, Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesperson said at a press briefing on Monday that “We have made clear that while we oppose the decision taken by the prosecutor of the ICC – we don’t think it was appropriate, especially while there are ongoing investigations inside Israel looking at some of these very same questions – and we are willing to work with Congress on what a response might look like, we don’t support sanctions.”

The ICC‘s Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan announced last month that his office had filed applications for arrest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for “war crimes and crimes against humanity”. Khan also applied for arrest warrants for three Palestinian leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza; Mohammed Deif, the leader of Al-Qassam Brigades; and the head of Hamas’ political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh.

Netanyahu called the decision “outrageous,” “a disgrace” and “a moral outrage of historic proportions.”

Efforts Underway to Issue ICC Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu, Sinwar – Developing Story

The Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas said the arrest warrants against “the occupation leaders came seven months late” during which Israel had committed “thousands of crimes against Palestinian civilians.”

“The Public Prosecutor should have arrest and detention orders against all officials from the occupation leaders who gave orders, and soldiers who participated in committing crimes, in accordance with Articles 25, 27 and 28 of the Rome Statute,” the movement said in a statement.

Ongoing Genocide

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 36,586 Palestinians have been killed, and 83,074 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.

Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

‘Biggest Victims of Gaza War’ – Majority of 15,000 Children Killed Were Students

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

(The Palestine Chronicle)