US sanctions International Criminal Court itself in major escalation

The US has announced new sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The sanctions are part of a series of steps by the Donald Trump administration as it seeks to dismantle the intergovernmental organization.

US President Donald Trump's administration imposed sanctions on the ICC on Friday, hours after one of its former judges won the Nobel Peace Prize.

The US has in recent months made no bones about pursuing what Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called a "sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court."

The United States and Israel had both strongly opposed the court's arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Since 2020 and the back end of Trump's first term, the US had also opposed investigations into military actions in Afghanistan that "deprioritize" alleged US wrongdoings, focusing on the Taliban, but can nevertheless include them.

The ICC said the US sanctions aimed to obstruct an independent international court supported by more than half of the UN's members.

The ICC called the Rome Statute, which underpins membership of the court, a "collective promise" that the most serious international crimes must not go unpunished.

The court appealed to members to take "concrete actions" to ensure the court would still have the necessary means to continue its work.

The Trump administration has imposed sweeping new sanctions on the International Criminal Court as part of its campaign to dismantle what it describes as a "rogue" tribunal, threatening to cripple its operations.

Following the move, the European Union said it was "ready to take any necessary measures to enable the court to carry out its work".

The sanctions target the entire court, not just its officials or groups that provide support.

The administration has pointed to the court's ongoing investigation into abuses committed in Afghanistan, which could ensnare US military and intelligence personnel, as well as the ICC's arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes committed in Gaza.

Before Friday's actions, the US had sanctioned ICC judges and prosecutors, a UN special rapporteur focusing on the occupied Palestinian territories and Palestinian rights groups that have provided evidence to the court.

Several rights groups have challenged those sanctions in US federal court, saying restricting how US citizens interact with the court treads on their constitutional freedoms.

Sanctioned ICC judges have also launched legal challenges in the US.

The ICC called on member states to redouble support, saying "History will judge this moment. Future generations, and above all the victims of mass atrocities, will ask how we responded when an institution created to protect them came under attack."

The US and Israel are not parties to the Rome Statute, the founding treaty that establishes the court's jurisdiction.

However, the court has long ruled that abuses committed by US or Israeli citizens in the territories of countries that are ICC members can be prosecuted.

Israel was among those cheering the Trump administration's latest action, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying "Thank you for your leadership."