U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken offered to work with lawmakers on potential sanctions against the International Criminal Court after its prosecutor sought arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials. Blinken said at a congressional hearing that he was "determined" to take action against the ICC's "deeply flawed decision."
His comments come amid a Republican push to impose sanctions on ICC officials that could be voted on as early as this week.
The United States is not a member of the court but has supported previous prosecutions, including the ICC's warrant for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin after the start of the war in Ukraine.
During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, James Risch, the top Republican on the committee, asked whether Blinken would support legislation that would address the ICC "sticking its nose into the affairs of countries that have independent, legitimate and democratic judiciaries."
"We want to work with you on a bipartisan basis to find an appropriate response. I am committed to doing that," the secretary of state said.
Blinken said that "there is no question that we need to look at the appropriate steps to take to address what is a deeply flawed decision again."
On May 20, ICC Attorney General Karim Khan announced that he had applied for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant.
Khan also requested arrest warrants for three Hamas officials - Yahya Sinwar, the organization's leader in Gaza, Mohammed Deif, commander of the military wing of the Qassam Brigades, and Ismail Haniyeh, head of the organization's political bureau./BGNES
