THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Judges at the International Criminal Court called on the court's prosecutor Thursday to reconsider her decision not to investigate the storming by Israel of an aid flotilla that was heading to Gaza.
Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda last year declined a request by the Union Comoros to launch a probe into the May 31, 2010, storming of one of the flotilla vessels, which was sailing under a Comoros flag.
Bensouda said there was a "reasonable basis to believe that war crimes" were committed on the Mavi Marmara ship, where eight Turks and one Turkish-American were killed and several other pro-Palestinian activists wounded by Israeli commandos, but the case wasn't serious enough to merit an ICC case.
Judges ruled Thursday that Bensouda made "material errors in her determination of the gravity" of the case.
Israel, meanwhile, said Thursday that it "harshly condemns" the judges' call to reconsider the decision.
"It's not clear why the court insists on spending its resources needlessly dealing with cynical, politically-motivated complaints, instead of dealing with the things for which it was founded to address — investigating mass atrocities," Israel's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said Israel expects the prosecutor not to change her decision.
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