The State Department has imposed sanctions on three Palestinian human rights organizations for supporting the ICC’s Israel probe.

Democrats blocked a GOP effort to impose sanctions on the ICC, but they made it clear they support the Republicans’ overall goal of punishing the court for prosecuting Israeli officials.

A year ago today, six year old Hind Rajab was killed by an Israeli tank as she hid for safety in Gaza. Today, a Belgian foundation is hunting Israeli war criminals in her name.

At a recent convening at The Hague, state representatives to the ICC agonized over the disastrous implications for the international rules-based order should Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant evade accountability for war crimes in Gaza. 

Palestinians hold deep skepticism of courts based on generations of Israeli abuse. But the ICC warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant are a moment to expose the contradictions of the American Empire and put a crack in the veneer of impunity.

A vote this week in the U.N. General Assembly provided decisive global pushback against the U.S. and Israeli war on international law.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan’s request for arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant has been mired in attempts to shield Israel from accountability since May, but this soon could change.

The ICJ’s authoritative ruling on the Israeli occupation makes clear that boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against Israeli occupation, colonization, and apartheid are not only a moral imperative but also a legal obligation.

The ICJ’s ruling that international law protects the rights of Palestinians, and they need not negotiate with their oppressors for those rights, dealt a definitive blow to decades of Western efforts to situate Israel outside the reach of the law.

In Israel, a potential arrest for crimes against humanity can help boost the popularity of a politician. That itself is a telling indictment.