(JTA) — The International Criminal Court again has ordered a prosecutor to reconsider her decision not to investigate war crimes allegations against Israel in the Mavi Marmara flotilla case.
A panel of ICC judges in a 3-2 vote Friday dismissed an appeal by ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda that she not reopen the case as requested by a different panel in July.
The latest panel was responding to a request by the Comoros Islands, an ICC member, to investigate the May 2010 incident in which nine Turkish passengers, including one U.S. citizen, were killed in clashes with Israeli commandos who had boarded the Mavi Marmara. The ship, which was trying to evade Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip, was registered to the Comoros.
Last November, the court in The Hague closed a preliminary investigation into the incident. Bensouda said at the time that any cases relating to Israel’s boarding of the ship “would not be of sufficient gravity to justify further action by the ICC.”
Israel is not a member of the ICC.
