Berk Kutay Gökmen
22 September 2026•Update: 22 September 2026
US Sen. Chris Van Hollen called Monday on European countries and other signatories to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to sanction President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the administration’s efforts to undermine its work.
“If European countries & other signatories to the International Criminal Court have any self-respect, they'd sanction Rubio & Trump for obstructing investigations of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu's war crimes,” Van Hollen said in a post on the US social media platform X.
His comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration is preparing sweeping sanctions against the ICC, escalating its efforts to weaken the court following its arrest warrant for Netanyahu.
The report, citing US officials and documents, said the proposed sanctions would prohibit most transactions with the ICC after a six- to seven-month grace period.
The measures could prevent the court from conducting transactions in US dollars and cut it off from significant parts of the global financial system.
The administration has already sanctioned several ICC officials, including its president, Tomoko Akane, judges, deputy prosecutors and the prosecutor involved in the case against Netanyahu and other Israeli officials.
The proposed sanctions would target transactions with the ICC itself rather than only individual officials, according to the report. Transactions involving communications services would be exempt.
The ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024, accusing them of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
