‘Illegitimate targeting’: US puts sanctions on Palestinian rights groups; condemns ICC probe into Israel

The United States sanctioned three Palestinian human rights organizations on Thursday that sought an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into Israel over alleged genocide in Gaza, as per the country’s treasury department.

The rights groups Al-Haq, PCHR, and Al-Mezan were added to the treasury’s “Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the rights groups were sanctioned for having “directly engaged in efforts by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel’s consent," in a follow-up statement, as cited by Al Jazeera. He also cited the “illegitimate targeting of Israel,”


The groups requested the ICC to probe Israeli airstrikes on Gaza’s densely populated areas on November 2023, the blockade, and population displacement.

A year later, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence chief Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Ramallah-based Al-Haq has been a prominent organization advocating for accountability for Israeli abuses both locally and internationally, pursuing litigation in multiple countries.

Gaza City’s Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights have been leading independent groups documenting Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza. In a joint statement, all three condemned “in the strongest terms the draconian sanctions” imposed by the Trump administration, reported Al Jazeera.

The ICC, which was established in 2002, has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide across its 125 member states. However, countries such as the US, Russia, China, and Israel do not recognise its authority.

The Trump administration has targeted ICC judges and the chief prosecutor with sanctions previously in response to Israeli arrest warrants and a previous investigation into alleged war crimes by US forces in Afghanistan.

“The United States 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,” Rubio had said.

The sanctions on the Palestinian groups follow a resolution by the world’s largest association of genocide scholars, which stated that Israel meets the legal criteria for committing genocide in Gaza. Israel condemned the move as disgraceful and “entirely based on Hamas' campaign of lies.”