U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order slapping sanctions on officials with the International Criminal Court for opening investigations targeting the United States and Israel.
Trump's order said the court in The Hague “has engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.”
The executive order, signed by Trump on February 6, said those actions “set a dangerous precedent, directly endangering current and former United States personnel,” including members of the U.S. military.
The order refers to an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his actions toward Palestinians in Gaza and recent actions by the court that endanger members of the U.S. military.
The order was signed after Netanyahu visited Trump at the White House on February 4. It notes that neither the United States nor Israel are members of the court.
Trump’s order imposes sanctions, including barring ICC officials, employees, and family members from entering the United States and freezes any assets they hold in U.S. jurisdiction. The sanctions also apply to anyone deemed to have helped the court's investigations.
SEE ALSO: ICC Arrest Warrant Will Dog Netanyahu Even If He Never Faces The HagueThe ICC issued arrest warrants on November 21 for Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif -- who Israel says is dead.
The warrants are for "crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024."
Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, launched an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed some 1,200 people, mostly Israeli citizens, and took hundreds of others hostage. A subsequent Israeli offensive aimed at neutralizing Hamas has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly in the Gaza Strip.
Trump in 2020 during his first administration imposed financial sanctions and a visa ban on the ICC's then-prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, and other senior officials and staff. The move came after Bensouda launched an investigation into allegations of war crimes against U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
President Joe Biden lifted the sanctions soon after taking office in 2021.
ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan,Khan later effectively dropped the United States from the Afghan investigation.