Trump signs order sanctioning International Criminal Court

The US is not a member of the ICC and has repeatedly rejected any jurisdiction by the body over American officials or citizens.

The order says that the ICC’s recent actions “set a dangerous precedent” that endanger Americans by exposing them to “harassment, abuse and possible arrest”.

“This malign conduct in turn threatens to infringe upon the sovereignty of the United States and undermines the critical national security and foreign policy work of the United States government and our allies, including Israel,” the order says.

The White House accuses the Hague-based ICC of creating a “shameful moral equivalency” between Hamas and Israel by issuing the warrants for the Israeli leaders and a Hamas commander at the same time, according to a fact sheet circulated by the White House earlier.

The White House believes the ICC is placing constraints on Israel’s right to self-defence, while accusing the body of ignoring Iran and anti-Israel groups.

Trump has repeatedly criticised the ICC, and took several steps to sanction the body during his first term in office.

At the time, he also imposed sanctions on ICC officials who were investigating whether US forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan.

The order allowed the US to block the assets of ICC employees and stop them from entering the US.

In response, the ICC said that the sanctions were an “unacceptable attempt to interfere with the rule of law”.

Founded in 2002 – in the wake of the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the Rwandan genocide – the ICC was formed to investigate alleged atrocities.

The court can only deal with crimes committed after July 2002, when the Rome Statute – which formed the ICC – came into effect.

Over 120 countries have ratified the statute, while another 34 have signed and may ratify in the future.

Neither the US nor Israel is party to the Rome Statute. The order states that “both nations are thriving democracies with militaries that strictly adhere to the laws of war”.

The ICC is a court of last resort and it is meant to intervene only when national authorities cannot or will not prosecute.