Rubio hits 2 more International Criminal Court judges with sanctions over Israel prosecutions

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration has imposed sanctions on two more International Criminal Court judges over their role in investigating Israeli officials for possible war crimes during Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that he had designated Judges Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia for penalties that can include a freezing of assets in U.S. jurisdictions and a ban on travel to the United States.

The two are the latest in a series of ICC judges and staffers to have been targeted by the Trump administration for approving or advancing criminal complaints about Israel and the United States, which aren't members of the court. The Republican administration had previously imposed sanctions on the former ICC chief prosecutor and nine judicial and support staff members, including lawyers and investigators.

“The ICC has continued to engage in politicized actions targeting Israel, which set a dangerous precedent for all nations,” Rubio said in a statement. “We will not tolerate ICC abuses of power that violate the sovereignty of the United States and Israel and wrongly subject U.S. and Israeli persons to the ICC’s jurisdiction.”

The Hague-based ICC reacted quickly to the announcement, saying in a statement that it “deplores” the move.

“These sanctions are a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution which operates pursuant to the mandate conferred by its states parties from across regions,” it said. “Such measures targeting judges and prosecutors who were elected by the states parties undermine the rule of law. When judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk.”

The statement said the court, which has 18 judges, would continue to carry out its mandate “with independence and impartiality.”

The Trump administration's actions come after a panel of ICC judges last year issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.

Netanyahu condemned the warrant against him, saying Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions” by the court. Gallant said the decision “sets a dangerous precedent against the right to self-defense and moral warfare and encourages murderous terrorism.”

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Associated Press writer Molly Quell in The Hague contributed to this report.