ICC orders its prosecutor to consider 'Mavi Marmara' war crimes allegations against IDF

Source: Jerusalem Post

Decision puts ICC closest ever to intervening in Israeli-Arab conflict.

In a shocking 2-1 decision, the International Criminal Court on Thursday ordered its chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to consider opening a full criminal investigation into war crimes allegations against IDF personnel relating to the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla, just seven months after she had closed the file.

Using harsh language, the ICC told Bensouda she should have considered more seriously the possibility that the deaths of those killed by the IDF in the incident were “systematic or resulted from a deliberate plan or policy to attack, kill or injure civilians.”

The decision puts the ICC the closest it has ever been to intervening directly in the Israeli-Arab conflict and places the court in the position of potentially being harsher on Israel than Bensouda, who herself has been criticized by Israel for recognizing a State of Palestine.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the decision. “At a time when, in Syria, [President Bashar] Assad slaughters hundreds of thousands of his own people, Iran sends hundreds to death, and Hamas uses children as human shields in Gaza, the court has chosen to deal with Israel for cynical political reasons,” Netanyahu said.

Read more: http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/ICC-orders-its-prosecutor-to-consider-Mavi-Marmara-war-crimes-allegations-against-IDF-409265