US Sanctions Imposed on Rights Groups That Referred Israel to International Court

The US has imposed sanctions on three Palestinian human rights groups that asked the international criminal court to investigate Israel over allegations of genocide in Gaza.

- William Christou

The groups – the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights and the Ramallah-based Al-Haq – were listed under what the US treasury department said were ICC-related designations.

The groups are leading rights monitors in Palestine and have been engaged in documenting alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza over the past 23 months.

Sanctions will make it harder for international human rights agencies to cooperate with the groups and will make day-to-day life more difficult for their employees.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said the sanctions were imposed on the rights monitors for having "directly engaged in efforts by the international criminal court to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel's consent".

Days earlier, the world's leading genocide scholars' association said Israel's actions in Gaza met the legal definition of genocide, an accusation Israel has denied.

The groups had asked the ICC in November 2023 to investigate Israeli airstrikes on densely populated civilian areas of Gaza, the siege of the territory and displacement of the population.