Palestinian NGOs vow to continue cooperation with ICC despite US sanctions

Three Palestinian human rights groups that had US sanctions imposed on them for asking the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel over allegations of genocide in Gaza say they plan to continue their cooperation with the war crimes tribunal.

The three groups — the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Ramallah-based Al-Haq — were listed yesterday under what the US Treasury Department said were International Criminal Court-related designations.

The step marked a significant intensification of the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine the ICC case against Israel, expanding Washington’s sanction campaign from court officials to outside groups that are backing the case against Israel.

Palestinian lawyer Raji Sourani, who runs the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, calls the sanctions “shameful” and says he will not be deterred.

“This is our reaction: business as usual, we are just in the court doing what we have to do,” Sourani tells reporters outside the ICC after meeting its deputy prosecutor.

The three human rights organizations asked the ICC in November 2023 to investigate Israeli air strikes on densely populated civilian areas of Gaza, the siege of the territory, and the displacement of the population. A year later, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief, Yoav Gallant, as well as leaders of the Hamas terror group, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Israel has also acted against al-Haq in the past, designating it a terrorist organization over its alleged links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a terror group.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has imposed sanctions on ICC judges as well as its chief prosecutor over the Israeli arrest warrants and a past decision to open a case into alleged war crimes by US troops in Afghanistan.

The ICC, which was established in 2002, has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in its 125 member countries. Some nations, including the US, China, Russia and Israel, do not recognize its authority.