The International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague in The Netherlands is the world's sole permanent court with the power to prosecute individuals for international crimes. These crimes include genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression.
Typically, cases will advance to the ICC once they have cycled through local and national courts with no prosecution of crimes.
As of September 2021, 123 countries are signed on the Rome Statute, the binding legal treaty that enacted the creation of the court and serves as its legal guide. Israel signed on to the Statute on December 31, 2000, but its signature was never approved or accepted.
The Judicial Division is the body of lawmakers that hears cases, headed by the president. Cases are brought to the Judicial Division by the Prosecutor.
On March 3, 2021, then-ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced the opening of a full war crimes probe against Israel and Hamas, focusing on the Gaza wars in 2014 and 2018, as well as the launching of rockets by Hamas against Israeli civilians and the settlement enterprise.
The sanctions, which repeat action Trump took during his first term, include freezing of US assets of those designated and barring them and their families from visiting the United States.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed soon after the warrants were issued that his government would abide by them.
"Why should you be allowed to walk the streets of New York?" among the commentary from assailants.
Karim Khan, who is British, was named on Friday in an annex - not yet made public - to an executive order signed by Trump a day earlier, a senior ICC official and another source claimed.
While mentioning "a future for Gaza" and a "future for peace," Netanyahu did not speak of Trump's plans for the future of the strip.
The US sanctions, which focus on punishing the court for investigating Israeli officials, can also affect the prosecution's probe into crimes committed by Hamas, says rep. for victims, Vias Gvirsman.
Donald Trump said the ICC abused its power by issuing "baseless arrest warrants" targeting Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
A major topic of discussion was legislative action against the International Criminal Court, with Senate leaders pledging to advance a bill aimed at countering the court.
The group is formed of representatives from South Africa, Belize, Cuba, Namibia, Bolivia, Honduras, Senegal, Colombia and Malaysia.
The Taliban claimed the ICC should “not attempt to impose a particular interpretation of human rights on the entire world and ignore the religious and national values of people..."
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