US House passes ICC sanctions bill over Netanyahu arrest warrant request

Vote is Congress's first legislative rebuke of war-crimes court since ICC prosecutor's decision to seek arrests of leaders of Israel and Hamas

The House passed legislation on Tuesday that would sanction the international criminal court after its chief prosecutor requested arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials.

The 247-155 vote amounts to Congress's first legislative rebuke of the war-crimes court since prosecutor Karim Khan's decision last month to seek arrest warrants for the leaders of Israel and Hamas. The move was widely denounced in Washington, creating a rare moment of unity on Israel even as partisan divisions over the war with Hamas intensified.