The US House passes a bill to protect Israeli war criminals from ICC penalties

The US House of Representatives passed a bill to punish officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC). This is in reaction to the ICC’s arrest warrants for Israeli officials for war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

Republicans Chip Roy and Brian Mast presented the bill, and the House voted 243 to 140 in favor of its text on Thursday.

The bill, which is now on its way to the Senate, which is run by Republicans, says that the warrants against the Israeli officials should be “condemned in the strongest possible terms.”

As well, it wants the court to be punished for “any attempt to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies.” The penalties include prohibiting US property deals and rescinding or blocking visas.

The International Criminal Court (ICC), which is based in The Hague, charged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Military Affairs Yoav Gallant with crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza last year. The ICC issued arrest orders for them.

As a result, the House passed the ICC sanctions bill, but the Senate, under Democratic control at the time, did not. Thursday was the second time that the chamber voted in favor of the pro-Israel bill.

“Human rights lawyers and others documenting the worst atrocities committed on this planet are heroes who should be celebrated—not punished when the war criminals they pursue are allies of the United States,” Representative Ilhan Omar, who voted against the bill, said on X.

Representative Rashida Tlaib said in an X post that the bill is aimed at protecting “genocidal maniac Netanyahu so he can continue the genocide in Gaza.”

Israel launched its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out a surprise operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

So far, the criminal regime has killed at least 46,006 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 109,378 others in the besieged territory.