US President Donald Trump has slapped sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing the body of attacking Israel and the United States.

In an executive order issued late on Thursday, Trump called the court “illegitimate” and placed financial and US visa restrictions on ICC staff and anyone assisting ICC investigations against the US and its allies.

Trump said arrest warrants issued by the ICC in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes in Gaza, were “baseless”. However, analysts have described his order for sanctions as “an assault on the rule of law”.

Here is what we know so far:

What does the executive order say?

Trump’s executive order claimed the ICC has “abused its power” by issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant and stated that The Hague-based court has taken “illegitimate” actions against the US and its “close ally” Israel.

Trump’s order, which coincides with Netanyahu’s visit to the US, authorises sanctions and restrictions such as asset freezes and travel bans against ICC officials looking to prosecute American citizens and “allies”.

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The White House defined Israel as “a democratic state whose military strictly adheres to the laws of war”.

“The actions taken by the International Criminal Court against Israel and the United States set a dangerous precedent,” it continued, accusing the ICC of “malign behaviour that threatens to violate American sovereignty and undermine national security and foreign policy”.

Neither the US nor Israel are signatories to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC in 2002.

How did the previous US administration respond to the arrest warrants?

In November, then-US President Joe Biden called the ICC’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu “outrageous”.

Besides the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed al-Masri, known as Mohammed Deif, “for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed” in Israel on October 7, 2023 when Hamas led assaults on army outposts and villages in southern Israel in which 1,139 people were killed and more than 200 were taken captive into Gaza.

In a statement, Biden said: “Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”

Israel said it killed Deif in July in southern Gaza. Hamas confirmed his death last week. The ICC indicted him along with two other Hamas leaders, Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh – both of whom have also been killed.

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On January 9, the US House of Representatives passed legislation that would sanction the ICC in a 243-140 vote.

“America is passing this law because a kangaroo court is seeking to arrest the prime minister of our great ally Israel,” Representative Brian Mast, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a speech before the vote.

The only legislators who did not support the bill were Democrats. but 45 members of the party voted for it. On January 28, the US Senate blocked the legislation.

How will the sanctions work?

Sanctioned individuals may be denied entry into the US. They could also have their US assets frozen and be denied financial dealings with “US persons” and entities, including banks. Entities outside the US could also lose access to the US financial system if they violate sanctions.

Sanctions violations can result in fines and imprisonment.

Trump’s executive order targets ICC staff responsible for the court’s “transgressions”. Sanctions can also be applied to staff family members as well as those assisting with ICC investigations.

The names of individuals targeted by the sanctions have not been released. But previous sanctions against the ICC – issued in 2020 during Trump’s first term – were aimed at the chief prosecutor and an aide who ran an ICC investigation into alleged war crimes by US soldiers in Afghanistan.

Will sanctions stifle ICC investigations into Israeli war crimes?

Placing ICC officials under sanctions could hinder ongoing investigations by making it more difficult for them to travel and access funds. Trump’s actions also risk discrediting international efforts to bring war criminals to justice.

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Yossi Mekelberg, a professor and Israel analyst at London-based Chatham House, told Al Jazeera: “This is an attempt to intimidate the ICC as an organisation and those who work for it.” He added that the executive order could “scare people from cooperating with the ICC”.

Saul Takahashi, a professor of international human rights law at Osaka Jogakuin University in Japan, told Al Jazeera the indirect implications of Trump’s move “can be very serious”.

“The executive order talks about not only sanctioning actual staff members of the ICC … but also people who cooperate with the ICC in the investigation into Israeli officials,” he said. “We are talking about human rights activists, victims, etc. Those kind of people may be shut out of the US or face penalties.”

Neve Gordon, professor of law at Queen Mary University of London and a board member of the International State Crime Initiative, said he does not expect the ICC’s “extremely courageous” staff to backtrack from their investigations.

Gordon told Al Jazeera: “Given their [ICC staff members’] history of resistance and their willingness to stand up and speak truth to power in order to uphold the law despite years of pressure, I doubt that this executive order will make them bow down.”

Will this order hamper the functioning of the ICC?

In a statement published on Friday, the ICC said Trump’s executive order seeks to “harm its independent and impartial judicial work” but pledged to “continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world”.

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“We call on our 125 States Parties, civil society and all nations of the world to stand united for justice and fundamental human rights,” it added.

International financial institutions could refrain from working with the court as a result of the sanctions.

“The stakes could not be higher,” Gordon said. “Even though the sanctions are aimed at the ICC and its independent and impartial judicial work, they actually constitute a direct attack on the post-World War II international legal order.

“By targeting the only international legal institution that has enforcement capacity relating to the post-World War II international legal regime, the executive order in effect undermines international humanitarian law, including 1949 four Geneva Conventions, the 1951 Genocide Convention and a series of international conventions relating to laws of war and human rights.

“It is an assault on the rule of law.”

Mekelberg said Trump’s move sends a “chilling message to other international organs that if they don’t comply with the US, they might suffer”.

However, Takahashi said the direct impact of US sanctions on the ICC would most likely be “limited”.

The court “is not in the United States. It is in The Hague in the Netherlands”, Takahashi told Al Jazeera, adding that only ICC staff with US assets were at risk.

What have the reactions to the order been so far?

Trump’s executive order has provoked expressions of alarm from around the world. European Council President Antonio Costa said the sanctions “undermine the international criminal justice system as a whole”.

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The Netherlands said it “regrets” the order, declaring that the court’s work is “essential in the fight against impunity”. Amnesty International labelled the move “reckless”.

For his part, Israel’s prime minister applauded Trump’s move. On X, Netanyahu posted: “Thank you, President Trump, for your bold ICC executive order. It will defend America and Israel from the anti-American and antisemitic corrupt court.”

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he “strongly” commended Trump’s executive order.

“The ICC aggressively pursues the elected leaders of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East,” Saar wrote on X. “The ICC has no jurisdiction – Israel and the US are not parties to the Rome Statute and are not members of the ICC. They are thriving democracies with militaries strictly adhering to international law.”