Key points
- ICC judges targeted US, Israel without consent: Rubio
- United States and Israel are not party to Rome Statute
- ICC judges approved arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant
ISLAMABAD: The United States has imposed sanctions on four judges from the International Criminal Court (ICC), Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Thursday.
According to Le Monde, two of the targeted judges took part in proceedings that led to an arrest warrant issued last November for Netanyahu and the other two were part of investigations into alleged war crimes committed by US soldiers in Afghanistan.
ICC issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and Hamas commander https://t.co/Lea1rvIofr
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 21, 2024
Rubio stated that he had designated Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin, and Beti Hohler of Slovenia for sanctions, according to Anadolu Ajansi.
The @IntlCrimCourt’s baseless and politicized targeting of America and our close ally Israel must end. Today, I have sanctioned four ICC judges for infringing on U.S. and Israeli sovereignty – two who authorized the ICC’s baseless investigation into U.S. personnel in Afghanistan…
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) June 5, 2025
“These individuals were directly involved in efforts by the International Criminal Court to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute citizens of the United States or Israel, without the consent of either country,” Rubio said in a statement.
He noted that neither the United States nor Israel is a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.
Accusing the judges
Rubio accused the judges of actively participating in what he described as “illegitimate and baseless actions” by the ICC that unfairly targeted the US and its close ally, Israel.
According to the statement, Judges Bossa and Ibáñez Carranza were involved in authorising an ICC investigation into US personnel operating in Afghanistan. Judges Alapini Gansou and Hohler were part of the decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
“Dangerous assertion”
Rubio described these decisions as a “dangerous assertion and abuse of power” which, in his view, undermines the sovereignty and national security of both the United States and its allies.
“The United States will take whatever steps it deems necessary to defend its sovereignty, that of Israel, and that of any other allied nation from the ICC’s illegitimate actions,” he said.
Rubio further called on nations that continue to support the ICC—many of whom, he argued, owe their freedom to American sacrifices—to oppose what he labelled a “disgraceful attack” on both the US and Israel.
Netanyahu thanks Trump
Israel’s Netanyahu welcomed the move, thanking US President Donald Trump’s administration in a social media post.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu:
“Thank you President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio for imposing sanctions against the politicized judges of the ICC. You have justly stood up for the right of Israel, The United States and all democracies to defend themselves against savage terror.”
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) June 6, 2025
“Thank you President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio for imposing sanctions against the politicized judges of the ICC. You have justly stood up for the right of Israel,” he wrote on Friday.
