Democrats in the US Senate on Tuesday blocked a Republican effort to sanction the International Criminal Court for issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in connection with the war in the Gaza Strip.
The report states that the "Unlawful Judicial Reaction Act" proposal was supported by 54 senators, and requires at least 60 votes in the Senate for passage.
45 senators voted against the adoption of the law, while one senator abstained.
The bill passed the US House of Representatives earlier this month, with 243 votes in favor and 140 against.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants in November last year for Netanyahu, Gallant and the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Ibrahim al-Masri (also known as Muhammad Deif), although the Israeli military said he was killed in an airstrike on Gaza in July 2024.
As the International Criminal Court previously announced, judges found "reasonable grounds" that the three men bear "criminal responsibility" for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war between Israel and Hamas, a group considered terrorist by the United States and the European Union.
This includes, as they stated, "the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity, such as murder, persecution and other inhumane acts," Reuters reported.
Neither Israel nor the United States are members of the International Criminal Court.
Despite the arrest warrants, as reported by the AP, none of the suspects are likely to appear before judges in The Hague anytime soon. The court itself does not have the police to enforce the warrants, but relies on the cooperation of member states.
The International Criminal Court is the last instance that initiates proceedings in cases where domestic authorities cannot or will not investigate them.
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