ICC prosecutor reaffirms she won’t open probe into 2010 Gaza flotilla

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The International Criminal Court prosecutor says she is standing by her previous decision not to open a full-scale investigation into the storming by Israeli forces of a Turkish-led flotilla heading to Gaza in 2010.

Fatou Bensouda in November 2014 declined a request by the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros to investigate the May 31, 2010, intercept of a vessel in the flotilla that was sailing under a Comoros flag.

She says war crimes may have been committed on the Mavi Marmara ship, where eight Turks and one Turkish-American were killed and several other pro-Palestinian activists were wounded by Israeli commandos after they boarded the ship in a bid to enforce the Israeli blockade on Gaza. The IDF soldiers encountered violent resistance on the ship, and several of the commandos were badly wounded in the clash.

But the case wasn’t serious enough to merit an ICC probe, Bensouda says.

The ICC was set up as a court of last resort intended to prosecute senior leaders allegedly responsible for grave crimes including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity when national courts prove unable or unwilling to take on such cases. ICC judges told her to reconsider, but Bensouda says Thursday that after carefully reviewing more than 5,000 pages of documents and statements from more than 300 passengers on the Mavi Marmara she has reaffirmed her decision to close her preliminary investigation.

— AP