Afrasianet - The  US House of Representatives passes a bill that would impose sanctions on officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecuting Israel, in a move that represents a direct attack on the court, for moving to charge senior Israeli leaders with war crimes in Gaza.

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill imposing sanctions on officials at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecuting Israel, the New York Times reported.

The newspaper reported that this was "a direct attack on the court, because of its move to accuse senior Israeli leaders of war crimes in Gaza."

The draft law provides for freezing real estate assets and denying visas to any foreigner who has contributed to the court's efforts to "investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute a protected person."

Protected persons are defined as all current and former military and government officials of the United States and its allies, who have not consented to the court's jurisdiction, such as Israel.

The measure is one of several pushed through the House of Representatives by Republicans last year, but died in the Democratic-led Senate.

"It is certain now that it is being passed after Republicans took control of both houses of Congress and Trump took office."

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued  arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Galant for war crimes in Gaza.

The war crimes committed by Netanyahu and Galant include the use of starvation as a weapon of war, murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.