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US lawmakers in Congress have passed legislation that calls for US sanctions targeting the International Criminal Court (ICC) due to the efforts by its prosecutor to seek arrest warrants for top Israeli officials for alleged war crimes in Gaza.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved the “Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act” on Tuesday with a 247-155 vote. This bill aims to bar US entry and restrict property transactions for ICC officials involved in prosecutor Karim Khan’s request for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Despite its largely symbolic nature, the legislation still has significant hurdles before becoming law. These hurdles include President Biden’s vow to veto any legislation that calls for sanctions on ICC officials. President Biden has called the move “excessive.”

This development comes as Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor, has stated that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu, Gallant, and three Hamas leaders are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Netanyahu has dismissed the ICC’s actions as absurd, arguing that they target all of Israel. Neither Israel nor the US are ICC members, and it will be up to the 124 member states to decide on the enforcement of any arrest warrants.