With his eyes covered by a yellow “Wanted” banner across his face, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s image lit up a mobile billboard set up by Amnesty International near the entrance to the World Forum in The Hague. Meanwhile, delegates from the 125 member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) crowded into the conference center to conclude their annual assembly, on Friday, December 5.

In 2025, the United States imposed sanctions on six judges and three prosecutors, “alongside terrorists and drug traffickers,” condemned the Court’s president, Tomoko Akane, on December 1 at the podium. Their offense? Issuing arrest warrants for Israeli officials and approving an investigation into alleged crimes by US forces in Afghanistan in the 2000s. In The Hague, the assembly hoped to find a way to prevent further retaliation promised by the US. Since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, Washington has been imposing sanctions incrementally. The latest, announced in September, targeted three Palestinian NGOs – Al-Haq, Al-Mezan and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) – that document Israeli crimes and cooperate with the ICC prosecutor’s investigations.

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