Republican members of the US House of Representatives are preparing a sanctions package targeting International Criminal Court (ICC) officials as a “precaution” against potential arrest warrants of Israeli officials for war crimes committed in Gaza, according to Axios.
“We want to emphasize to [ICC prosecutor Karim Khan] that going down this road of arrest warrants is a really bad idea, and it’s going to blow up the relationship,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul told the US news outlet.
“We’re not sure if the arrest warrants are imminent, but it’s sort of a precaution to let them know that, if they do, we have this legislation ready to go. It won’t be put on the floor unless we have to,” he added.
McCaul emphasized the new package would come as a “companion” to legislation introduced last February in the Senate that seeks to sanction ICC officials “involved in probes of US allies who are not ICC members, such as Israel.”
The report by Axios comes on the heels of a harshly worded letter sent by a group of Republican senators to Khan, warning him against prosecuting Israeli officials for the genocide in Gaza.
“Target Israel and we will target you,” the senators tell Khan, adding that they will “sanction your employees and associates, and bar you and your families from the United States.”
The letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Zeteo website, concludes: “You have been warned.” It contains the signatures of 12 Republican senators, including Tom Cotton, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz.