WASHINGTON — The US State Department has imposed sanctions on three Palestinian human rights groups that asked the International Criminal Court to investigate and arrest Israeli leaders over accusations of war crimes in Gaza.

Late last year the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and a now deceased senior Hamas official.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday the US will sanction the three NGOs – Al Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (Al Mezan), and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) – for engaging in what he called the ICC’s “illegitimate targeting of Israel.”

The organizations “have directly engaged in efforts by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel’s consent,” Rubio said in a statement posted to the US Treasury Department’s website.

The US sanctions come days after the world’s leading genocide scholars said Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide. Israel rejected the accusation, saying it is based on a “campaign of lies” by Hamas. It has previously rejected other accusations it is carrying out genocide or war crimes.

Al Haq, Al Mezan and PCHR slammed the recent US sanctions as “immoral, illegal and undemocratic” in a joint statement posted to X.

In November 2023, the three groups filed a lawsuit with the ICC asking the prosecutor to investigate Israel for airstrikes on densely populated areas in Gaza, the siege of the territory, the forced displacement of its population, the use of toxic gas and the denial of necessities, including food and water.

The organizations also urged the ICC to issue arrest warrants for the Israeli leaders involved in actions they said amounted to “war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide.”

In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former defense chief Yoav Gallant for war crimes, including “starvation as a method of warfare” and crimes against humanity.

The court also issued a warrant for Hamas official Mohammed Deif, who Israel said was one of the masterminds of the October 7 attack. Israel said Deif was killed in an airstrike last year.

President Donald Trump’s administration has waged a campaign to punish organizations involved in the ICC’s efforts to investigate Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza. The White House has been highly critical of the Netherlands-based court, which investigates and prosecutes individuals charged with the most egregious international crimes, under a treaty called the Rome Statute, to which the US is not party.

The US has imposed sanctions on nine people who work for the ICC, including chief prosecutor Karim Khan. It has also instituted a policy of denying and revoking visas for members of the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization in part because of their “lawfare” campaigns at the ICC and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Rubio said Thursday the US “will continue to respond with significant and tangible consequences to protect our troops, our sovereignty, and our allies from the ICC’s disregard for sovereignty, and to punish entities that are complicit in its overreach.”

Al Haq, Al Mezan Center, and PCHR condemned the “draconian” sanctions in their joint statement, which was posted to each of their X accounts.

“Only states with complete disregard to international law and our shared humanity can take such heinous measures against human rights orgs working to end a genocide,” the organizations said.

“As the world moves to impose sanctions and arms embargoes on Israel; its ally, the US is working to destroy Palestinian institutions working tirelessly for accountability for the victims of Israel’s mass atrocity crimes,” the statement went on.

Israel, like the United States, is not a member of the ICC and has challenged the court’s jurisdiction over its actions in the conflict – a challenge the court rejected on Thursday.

The ICC claims jurisdiction over territories Israel occupies, including Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank, following the Palestinian leadership’s formal agreement to be bound by the court’s founding principles in 2015.

Amnesty International called the US decision to impose sanctions a “deeply troubling and shameful assault on human rights and the global pursuit of justice.”

“These organizations carry out vital and courageous work, meticulously documenting human rights violations under the most horrifying conditions,” Erika Guevara-Rosas, Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns said in a statement.

“This decision also starkly exposes the Trump administration’s deliberate efforts to dismantle the very foundation of international justice and shield Israel from accountability for its crimes,” Guevara-Rosas said. — CNN