The United States has announced sanctions against three Palestinian human rights organizations that requested the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Israel for genocide in Gaza.
The sanctions were revealed through a notice on the US Treasury Department’s website on Thursday.
The affected organizations include the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Ramallah-based Al-Haq. The Treasury Department categorized these groups under designations related to the ICC.
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These groups submitted their request to the ICC in November 2023, urging an investigation into Israeli airstrikes on densely populated civilian areas in Gaza, as well as the ongoing siege of the territory and the displacement of its population.
In a significant development a year later, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The sanctions come in the wake of previous actions taken by President Donald Trump’s administration, which included sanctions against ICC judges and its chief prosecutor in response to the Israeli arrest warrants and a prior decision to investigate alleged war crimes by US forces in Afghanistan.
The ICC, established in 2002, holds jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide among its 125 member countries. However, several nations, including the US, China, Russia, and Israel, do not recognize its authority.
The US sanctions against the Palestinian groups were announced just days after the world’s largest academic association of genocide scholars passed a resolution stating that legal criteria have been met to establish that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
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Craig Mokhiber, a former director of the New York office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, resigned in October 2023 in protest against the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
He criticized the Trump administration’s sanctions as a blatant attack on human rights defenders, asserting that the three organizations—Al Haq, Al Mezan, and PCHR—are respected globally for their professionalism and commitment to human rights.
“This is a global rampage threatening all human rights defenders,” Mokhiber stated. “We must stand in solidarity with them, as well as with UN human rights rapporteur Francesca Albanese and the International Criminal Court. This is indeed a Spartacus moment for all of us.”
At least 64,231 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and another 161,583 individuals have been injured in the brutal Israeli onslaught on Gaza since October 7, 2023, according to the health ministry of Gaza.