The US House of Representatives approves a bill to sanction senior TPI officials

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June 4 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The US House of Representatives has approved a bill to sanction senior officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) after Attorney General Karim Khan called for the issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant.

The vote ended with 247 votes in favor versus 155 against, with 42 Democrats voting in favor of a measure that has little chance of succeeding in a Senate controlled by the Democratic Party, as reported by NBC News.

According to the text, sanctions may be imposed on those “involved in any effort to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies,” as well as those who have provided financial assistance to the agency for these purposes.

Under the bill, proposed by Republicans Chip Roy and Brian Mast, those sanctioned will have their assets blocked in the United States, visa restrictions imposed, and transactions prevented.

“The idea that they would issue an arrest warrant against Israel’s prime minister and Israel’s defense minister at a time when they are fighting for the very existence of their nation in the face of the evil of Hamas as Iran’s proxy is inconceivable to us. “, indicated the president of the House, Mike Johnson, as reported by ‘The Hill’.

Khan announced in May his decision to seek the issuance of arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, as well as Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar; the leader of the group’s military wing, Mohamed Diab al Masri, known as ‘Abú Deif’; and the head of the political arm of the formation, Ismail Haniye, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity following the October 7 attacks by the Islamist group and the subsequent Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip.