Officials in the court's host country, the Netherlands, have been notified that the sanctions are imminent and are looking at ways to help the tribunal keep operating, including paying staff, protecting witnesses and maintaining the detention facility, diplomatic and government officials with knowledge of the briefings told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Washington has already sanctioned more than a dozen current and former staff members, including half of the court’s sitting judges, in what U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has described as a “sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court.”
The U.S. and Israel have strongly objected to the court's arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over the war in Gaza. The U.S. also has opposed investigations into its military actions in Afghanistan.
Like Russia, China, India and Israel, the United States is among countries that have never joined the panel, with Washington citing fears of politically motivated prosecutions of its military. The court currently has 125 member states.
The sanctions could prevent the court from accessing financial and IT services, and even paying its U.S. employees. When the court’s former chief prosecutor was sanctioned in 2025, he lost access to his Microsoft email, his bank accounts were frozen and he was barred from entering the United States.
According to two sources familiar with the situation, U.S. officials warned their Dutch counterparts that sanctions would be levied as early as Monday and encouraged the court’s host state to withdraw from the institution.
