The oversight body of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has shunned US demands for the court to drop its investigation into Israeli war crimes and to amend its founding treaty to prevent the prosecution of nationals from countries that do not recognise the court’s jurisdiction, Middle East Eye can reveal.

In a statement issued on Wednesday after its annual meeting in The Hague earlier this week, the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) vowed to uphold the integrity of the Rome Statute and said it was “gravely concerned” by threats and coercive measures targeting the court.

Diplomats speaking on the sidelines of the event told MEE that the Trump administration had tried to exert further pressure on the ICC in the leadup to the ASP meeting by calling on the court to drop its investigations into war crimes in Palestine and Afghanistan as a condition for lifting sanctions.

The US also called on member states to amend the Rome Statute to prohibit prosecutions of citizens of non-signatory states, a move that would have effectively granted immunity to American and Israeli nationals. An amendment of that nature would also end the Ukraine investigation into alleged war crimes by Russia, a non-member of the ICC.