President Joe Biden likes to say “America is back.” But six weeks weeks into office, that's not the case at the International Criminal Court, despite his stated push to renew the US role in global institutions. 

On Wednesday, the chief prosecutor of the Hague-based tribunal announced a formal investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel in the Palestinian territories. The inquiry is expected to focus on the actions of both Israel and militant group Hamas during the Gaza war in 2014 as well as Israel’s settlement expansion in the West Bank.

In a strongly worded statement issued late Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States “firmly opposes” the investigation and has “serious concerns about the ICC’s attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli personnel.” 

Neither the United States nor Israel are party to the Rome Statute, the international treaty that established the ICC. They argue the court lacks jurisdiction to take up the case because the Palestinians, despite joining the ICC in 2015, aren’t an independent sovereign state.