US sanctions Palestinian rights groups over engagement with ICC Israel probe

Washington: The United States has imposed sanctions on three leading Palestinian human rights organizations, Al-Haq, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), and the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, accusing them of supporting the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation into Israeli war crimes.

The US Treasury Department on Thursday added the groups to its “Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the sanctions were imposed because the organizations had “directly engaged in efforts by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel’s consent.”

The Trump administration had earlier sanctioned the ICC itself after it issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over war crimes in Gaza. All three Palestinian groups had provided evidence of Israeli abuses in support of the case.

Rubio said the US would continue to act against those assisting the ICC. “The United States will continue to respond with significant and tangible consequences to protect our troops, our sovereignty, and our allies from the ICC’s disregard for sovereignty, and to punish entities that are complicit in its overreach,” he said.

Al-Haq, based in Ramallah, has long been a prominent voice seeking accountability for Israeli violations. The Gaza-based PCHR and Al-Mezan have independently documented the ongoing conflict and its humanitarian toll.

In a joint statement, the three groups denounced the sanctions as “draconian,” calling them “a cowardly, immoral, illegal and undemocratic act.” They added: “Only states with complete disregard to international law and our shared humanity can take such heinous measures against human rights orgs working to end a genocide.”

Mohsen Farshneshani, a sanctions lawyer with Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), criticized the move, writing on X that the US action was “shameful but not surprising,” and showed the administration “bends over backwards to put Israel First every time.”

The latest sanctions follow earlier US measures against Addameer, a Palestinian prisoners’ rights organization, which Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch warned would severely hamper its operations. In July, Washington also sanctioned the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), while at the same time lifting restrictions imposed by the Biden administration on Israeli settlers and groups accused of violence.