Washington has blacklisted four justices over the Gaza probe, just as it did during investigations into war crimes in Afghanistan
The US has imposed sanctions on four International Criminal Court (ICC) judges for their involvement in war crimes investigations targeting Washington’s close ally Israel. RT has examined these actions, which critics say expose the West’s double standards.
In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for allegedly committing grave atrocities in Gaza, including using starvation as a method of warfare, in response to the deadly 2023 raid by Hamas.
Israel, which is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the ICC, argued that the court lacks jurisdiction over its citizens. In February, Washington sanctioned the ICC and its top prosecutor, Karim Khan, over the arrest warrants, and earlier this month extended sanctions on four judges behind the probe into Israel’s actions in Gaza. The US State Department described the probe as an “illegitimate and baseless” action against the US and Israel.
RT has found that the latest US sanctions follow a familiar pattern. Two of the newly sanctioned judges previously authorized an ICC probe into alleged crimes committed by US troops in Afghanistan. At the time, Washington fiercely opposed the investigation, imposing sanctions on ICC officials and pressuring the Afghan government to oppose the court’s jurisdiction. The ICC eventually dropped the US from the case in 2021, saying it “decided” to focus instead on investigating the Taliban and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).
The current sanctions seem to reflect a strategy in which the US shields itself and its allies from accountability while selectively backing the ICC when convenient. Washington praised the court when it issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2023.
Critics argue that though the ICC was originally intended to serve as a global moral compass, it has become no more than a lapdog for Western powers, serving their geopolitical interests. The US does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction, but has pressured other nations to comply. In 2016, then-State Department spokesman John Kirby condemned Burundi’s attempt to withdraw from the court, warning that doing so would “isolate Burundi from the international community.”
