The incoming Republican Senate majority leader of the United States, John Thune, has threatened sanctions legislation against the International Criminal Court (ICC) if it does not reverse the effort to seek arrest warrants against Israeli officials over their conduct of the war in Gaza.
Thune has labelled the actions of ICC Prosecutor, Karim Khana, as “outrageous and unlawful”.
Senator Thune wants the current majority leader, Democrat Chuck Schumer, to bring for a vote to the Senate floor legislation that would sanction the ICC or vowing to do so when he takes over the chamber in January.
The House of Representatives passed legislation in June to sanction the Hague-based court and its officials, including Khan, due to him seeking arrest warrants for Israeli officials over the war in Gaza.
He requested arrest warrants from the ICC pre-trial chamber in May, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The US believes the ICC has no jurisdiction to counter a 2021 court majority decision that it did.