Trump signs executive order imposing US sanctions on international criminal court
Donald Trump has signed an executive order sanctioning the international criminal court (ICC), the White House has confirmed.
The order accuses the ICC of having “engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions” targeting the US and its “close ally” Israel, and said the court has “abused its power” by issuing “baseless” arrest warrants targeting Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and its former defense minister, Yoav Gallant. The order states:
The ICC has no jurisdiction over the United States or Israel, as neither country is party to the Rome Statute or a member of the ICC.
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The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Thursday that while an Israeli ban has not yet forced the agency to cease operations, it faces an “existential threat” in the long run.
“I have been very clear that despite all the obstacles and the pressure the agency is under, our objective is to stay and deliver until we are prevented to do so,” Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the UN Relief and Works Agency, also known as UNRWA, said in an interview with The Associated Press during a visit to Beirut.
Israel last week formally banned UNRWA from operating on its territory. As a result, Lazzarini said, international staff have had to leave East Jerusalem because their visas expired, but in Gaza and the West Bank there has been no immediate impact on operations.
Even in East Jerusalem, he said, health care and other services provided by UNRWA “are continuing, though not necessarily at the same scope it used to be.”
UNRWA is also likely to face increased pressure from the United States under the new Trump administration, with the US leader this week proposing to “take ownership” of Gaza.
Israel says it struck two Hezbollah targets in Lebanon despite ceasefire
Israel said late on Thursday it had struck two sites in Lebanon that allegedly contained weapons of the Hezbollah group, in violation of a ceasefire deal, according to a report by Agence France-Presse.
Israeli forces “conducted a precise strike in Lebanese territory on two military sites that contained Hezbollah weapons, which were in violation of the ceasefire agreement,” the army said in a post on X.
Marina Dunbar
Donald Trump has signed an executive order authorizing sanctions against individuals and their families who assist the international criminal court (ICC), accusing the body of “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel”.
It was unclear how quickly the Trump administration would announce names of people sanctioned.
The signing of the order coincides with Netanyahu’s visit to the US Capitol, which included an Oval Office meeting earlier this week.
Trump has been a vocal critic of the ICC since it issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant last November for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, along with several Hamas leaders simultaneously.
Trump has previously argued that the ICC had “no jurisdiction, no legitimacy and no authority” in the US during his first term as president.
Summary of the day so far
It’s 1am in Gaza and Tel Aviv, and 6pm in Washington. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
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Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the international criminal court (ICC). The order accuses the ICC of having “engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions” targeting the US and its “close ally” Israel, and said the court “abused its power” by issuing “baseless” arrest warrants targeting Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and its former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.
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Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, ordered the military to prepare plans to allow Palestinians “who wish to leave” Gaza to exit. Asked who should take the residents of Gaza, Katz said it should be countries who have opposed Israel’s military operations since the 7 October attacks. He also claimed that Spain, Ireland, and Norway, who all last year recognised a Palestinian state, are “legally obligated to allow any Gaza resident to enter their territories”.
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Trump doubled down on its Gaza proposal amid widespread opposition. In a Truth Social post, Trump said the Palestinian territory would be “turned over” to the US by Israel after it concludes its military offensive against Hamas. Netanyahu, who is in Washington, said it is “worth listening carefully” to Trump’s proposal.
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The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said Palestinians in Gaza are “going to have to live somewhere else in the interim”. Rubio described Gaza as “not habitable”, in comments that appeared to walk back on Trump’s proposal about transferring Palestinians permanently to neighbouring countries. Rubio is reportedly planning to visit the Middle East later this month.
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The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) warned that the agency faces an “existential threat” after Israel formally banned it from operating on its territory. Philippe Lazzarini also described Trump’s Gaza proposal as “totally unrealistic”, adding: “We are talking about forced displacement. Forced displacement is a crime, an international crime. It’s ethnic cleansing.”
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Countries around the world continued to come out in opposition to Trump’s plan to turn Gaza into a “Riviera of the Middle East” after the 2.3 million Palestinians living there were transferred to other countries. Trump’s proposal would “squash” the ceasefire and “incite a return of fighting”, Egypt’s foreign ministry said. Russia called Trump’s proposal “counterproductive” and accused him of fuelling “tension in the region”. China’s foreign ministry said Beijing opposed the forced transfer of people in Gaza. Pakistan said Trump’s plan was “deeply troubling and unjust”, adding that “Palestinian land belongs to Palestinian people”. Iran said it “categorically rejected and condemned” Trump’s proposal.
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Human Rights Watch warned that the Trump’s proposal could move the US “from being complicit in war crimes to direct perpetration of atrocities”. Forced or coerced displacement is a crime against humanity, illegal under the Geneva conventions, to which Israel and the US are signatories. “Governments should together make clear their strong opposition to Trump’s call for forced displacement in Gaza and take action to prevent further atrocities against the Palestinian people,” HRW Middle East and North Africa director Lama Fakih said.
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At least 47,583 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks since October 2023, according to the Palestinian health ministry on Thursday. The ministry’s latest daily update also said a total of 111,633 have now been injured.
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Israel informed the United Nations human rights council (UNHRC) it is formally withdrawing from the body. Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said the decision was reached “in light of the ongoing and unrelenting institutional bias against Israel in the human rights council.”
As we reported earlier, the international criminal court (ICC) has been bracing itself for US sanctions since Donald Trump’s inauguration last month.
Trump has been a vocal critic of the ICC since it issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant last November for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, along with several Hamas leaders simultaneously.
At the time, the ICC said it had found reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant “bear criminal responsibility for … the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
In addition, the three-judge panel said there were reasonable grounds to believe they bear criminal responsibility “as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population”.
The ICC relies on 125 member states of the Rome statute to execute arrest warrants. Neither Israel nor the US are members.
Donald Trump’s executive order warns that the US will impose “tangible” and “significant” consequences on individuals who work on ICC investigations of US citizens or US allies, such as Israel.
The sanctions include freezing any US assets of those designated and barring them, or their families from entering the US.
Trump signs executive order imposing US sanctions on international criminal court
Donald Trump has signed an executive order sanctioning the international criminal court (ICC), the White House has confirmed.
The order accuses the ICC of having “engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions” targeting the US and its “close ally” Israel, and said the court has “abused its power” by issuing “baseless” arrest warrants targeting Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and its former defense minister, Yoav Gallant. The order states:
The ICC has no jurisdiction over the United States or Israel, as neither country is party to the Rome Statute or a member of the ICC.
Netanyahu says 'worth listening carefully to' Trump's Gaza plan
Benjamin Netanyahu said it is “worth listening carefully” to Donald Trump’s proposal for the US to take control of the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu, in a video statement from Washington DC, described the US president’s plan as “the first original idea that has come up in years”.
The Israeli prime minister also spoke about his recent meeting with US congressional and Senate leaders, during which he said: “Everyone expressed enormous appreciation for Israel’s great achievements.”
“I said that we are changing the face of the Middle East, and they simply saluted that,” he added.
Trump signs order on international criminal court - report
Joanna Walters
US president Donald Trump has reportedly now signed an executive order sanctioning the international criminal court (ICC), accusing the body of “improperly targeting” the United States and its allies, such as Israel.
The Reuters news agency has published the headline and cited an unnamed White House official. We’ll bring you more details as soon as possible.
Joanna Walters
Donald Trump’s efforts to slash and reshape American foreign aid is crippling the intricate global system that aims to prevent and respond to famine.
In a wider context than Israel’s war in Gaza, the international famine monitoring and relief system has suffered multiple blows from a sudden cessation of US foreign aid, Reuters reports.
The spending freeze is supposed to last 90 days while his administration reviews all foreign-aid programs.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said an exception allows emergency food assistance to continue.
But much of that emergency aid is at least temporarily halted, compounded by Trump’s move this week to shut the US Agency for International Development (USaid).
About 500,000 metric tons of food worth $340m is in limbo, said Marcia Wong, a former senior USaid official who has been briefed on the situation.
US-provided cash assistance intended to help people buy food and other necessities in Sudan and Gaza also has been halted, aid workers told Reuters.
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) has called on the international community to help feed millions of Palestinians in Gaza and rebuild the territory.
The UN agency has provided more than 15,000 tonnes of food to feed more than 525,000 people since a fragile 19 January ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect, WFP’s deputy executive director Carl Skau said, according to Agence-France-Presse.
“We call on the international community and all donors to continue supporting WFP’s life-saving assistance at this pivotal moment,” Skau said in a statement after his visit to Gaza.
The scale of the needs is enormous and progress must be maintained. The ceasefire must hold.
“In critical sectors beyond food - water, sanitation, shelter, even getting children back into school - we need to work together,” he added.
Palestinians 'going to have to live somewhere else in the interim' under Trump's Gaza plan, says Rubio
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said it is a “realistic reality” to expect Palestinians in Gaza to “live somewhere else in the interim”.
Rubio, taking questions during a press conference in the Dominican Republican, described Gaza as “not habitable”.
“Gaza right now has unexploded munitions, lots of rockets and weapons,” he said, adding:
I think that’s just a realistic reality, that in order to fix a place like that, people are going to have to live somewhere else in the interim.
Donald Trump’s top officials, including Rubio and the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, have appeared to walk back on some of the US president’s proposals about transferring Palestinians permanently to neighbouring countries.
Rubio encouraged other countries in the region to “step forward and provide a solution and an answer to that problem”.
Rubio to make first visit to Middle East in mid-February - report
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is planning to visit the Middle East in mid-February, Axios reports.
Rubio is planning to travel to the region after the Munich security conference, which begins on 14 February, the outlet says, citing sources.
Rubio reportedly plans to visit Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and possibly more countries.
Anna Betts
Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly gave Donald Trump a “golden pager” during their meeting in Washington DC this week, in an apparent reference to Israel’s deadly attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon last year.
In photos circulating online, the golden pager can be seen mounted on a piece of wood, accompanied by a golden plaque that reads in black lettering: “To President Donald J. Trump, Our greatest friend and greatest ally. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”
Israeli media reported that the Israeli prime minister, who is wanted by the international criminal court for war crimes, also gave the US president a regular pager.
The gift was reportedly a nod to Israel’s deadly operation last September against Hezbollah, during which thousands of handheld pager beeper devices and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah detonated simultaneously across Lebanon.
The explosions killed at least 37 people, including children as young as nine years old, and left thousands wounded.
Netanyahu told US war could end if Hamas leaders go into exile - report
Benjamin Netanyahu, during his meetings in Washington, presented a plan for ending the war in Gaza in return for Hamas giving up power and its leaders leaving the Palestinian territory, Axios reports.
Netanyahu told US officials that he wants to extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal in order to release more hostages, the outlet said, citing sources. In exchange for additional hostages, Israel would be ready to release more Palestinian prisoners, it said.
The report said Netanyahu indicated that if the first phase is extended, he plans to present Hamas with a proposal that includes ending the war in Gaza and releasing “senior” Palestinian prisoners.
In return, Netanyahu would demand that Hamas releases the remaining hostages, relinquish power in the Gaza Strip and that its senior leaders, including those who will be released from prison, would go into exile, the report said. A US source said:
Bibi and Israeli leadership have articulated a plan that includes allowing senior Hamas leadership to go into exile in a third-party country.
If Hamas relinquishes power and its leaders go into exile, it could open the door for a day-after plan, possibly including Donald Trump’s proposal for the US to “take over” Gaza, according to the report.
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