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US President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) Thursday for “illegitimate and baseless” investigations targeting the US and its ally Israel, the White House said. Follow our liveblog for all the latest developments on the Middle East.
- US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the court’s “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel”. The Hague had “abused its power” by issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the order said.
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will pay his first visit to the Middle East this month, the State Department said late Thursday. Rubio will attend the Munich Security Conference and then visit Israel, the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia from February 13-18.
Trump sanctions ICC for ‘illegitimate’ Israel, US probes
US President Donald Trump has slapped sanctions on the International Criminal Court for “illegitimate and baseless” investigations targeting America and its ally Israel, the White House said.
Trump signed an executive order saying the court in The Hague had “abused its power” by issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who held talks with the US president on Tuesday.
He ordered asset freezes and travel bans against ICC officials, employees and their family members, along with anyone deemed to have helped the court’s investigations.
The names of the individuals were not immediately released, but previous US sanctions under Trump had targeted the court’s prosecutor.
Trump’s order said the tribunal had engaged in “llegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel,” referring to ICC probes into alleged war crimes by US service members in Afghanistan and Israeli troops in Gaza.
Neither the United States nor Israel are members of the court.
Rubio will visit Israel, the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia next week
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will pay his first visit to the Middle East this month, a senior State Department official said Thursday, in the wake of President Donald Trump’s remarks on relocating Gaza’s population.
Rubio will attend the Munich Security Conference and then visit Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia from February 13-18, the official said.
Speaking earlier Thursday on a visit to the Dominican Republic, Rubio suggested that Trump was also seeking support for Gaza’s reconstruction from countries that “have both the economic and technological capacity” to support Gaza – a likely reference to wealthy Gulf Arab states.
“I think President Trump has offered to go in and be a part of that solution, and if some other country is willing to step forward and do it themselves, then that would be great,” Rubio said.
“But no one seems to be rushing forward to do that, and that has to happen,” he said.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
Yesterday’s main events
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US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Israel would hand over Gaza to the US after fighting was over and the enclave’s population was already resettled elsewhere, which he said meant no US troops would be needed on the ground.
- His top aides have defended his push to take over Gaza and move Palestinians out of the war-ruined enclave, but backed away from elements of his proposal in the face of international condemnation.
- Washington’s top diplomat Marco Rubio said any transfer of Gaza’s population would be temporary, while the White House said the plan would involve neither US taxpayers’ money nor US boots on the ground.
- Israel violated the ceasefire with Lebanon on Thursday, launching air strikes on targets it claims were military sites that contain Hezbollah weapons.
- Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the army to formulate a plan to allow for the “voluntary departure” of Palestinians from Gaza.
- Trump’s proposal was condemned by allies and adversaries alike, with the United Nations warning that “any forced displacement of people is tantamount to ethnic cleansing”.
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