The vote was 243 to 140 in favour of the "Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act," which would sanction any foreigner who investigates, arrests, detains or prosecutes US citizens or those of an allied country, including Israel, who are not members of the court.

The ICC is actually equating Israel and Hamas, even as Hamas still holds Israelis and American hostages. It is just absurd,” the House Speaker said.

Legislation imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court is expected to pass the House on Thursday with bipartisan support, but it remains unclear whether it can pick up sufficient Democratic backing in the Senate to meet the 60-vote threshold in the upper chamber.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday to sanction the International Criminal Court to protest its issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over Israel's campaign in Gaza.

Republicans want to sanction the ICC simply because they don’t want the rules to apply to everyone,” one lawmaker said.

The “Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act,” reintroduced this week by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), received overwhelming Republican support.

Poland's president wants Benjamin Netanyahu to be able to attend events marking 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz despite an ICC arrest warrant for the Israeli leader.

The post House okays bill to sanction ICC over Israeli arrest warrants; Senate path to be harder appeared first on The Times of Israel.

According to Al Jazeera, 45 Democrats joined 198 Republicans in backing the bill, with no Republican opposition. The bill will now be considered by the Senate, which is under Republican control.

Should it pass the Senate, ICC's prosecutors and judges would face sanctions and visa bans for going after US nationals or allies