(MENAFN) The United States has expanded sanctions against two judges and two prosecutors of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over their handling of cases involving American military personnel and Israeli officials.

According to a government statement, Judge Kimberly Prost was targeted for approving the Hague-based court’s investigation into U.S. troop actions in Afghanistan. Judge Nicolas Yann Guillou was sanctioned for issuing arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on alleged war crimes in Gaza. Deputy prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan and Mame Mandiaye Niang were also blacklisted for supporting the warrants. Neither the U.S. nor Israel is a member of the ICC.

The ICC condemned the sanctions as “a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution, which operates under a mandate from 125 States Parties from all regions.”

This follows the first set of ICC sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump in February, which targeted the court for what he called “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.” Netanyahu similarly criticized the arrest warrants, describing them as “anti-Semitic.”

In 2024, the ICC had placed Netanyahu and Gallant on its wanted list after determining there were “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel had obstructed humanitarian aid to Gaza, where more than 60,000 people have died since 2023.

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