By, Anshel Pfeffer
1 min read
ByAnshel Pfeffer, Anshel Pfeffer
The decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to order its own chief prosecutor to re-open an investigation into the 2010 Gaza flotilla incident is a shot across Israel’s bow and an indication that the court may be planning more interventions in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The 2-1 decision last Thursday by the court to direct chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to reconsider her decision last November to close an investigation into Israel’s interdiction of the flotilla to Gaza and the killing of nine Turkish activists on the Mavi Marmara ferry, will not automatically lead to indictments in the case.
Ms Bensouda can stick by her original decision that the deaths at sea were an isolated incident and therefore not worthy of further investigation.
However, the two judges ruled that the incident warranted further investigation because of the wide international interest in the affair. This is an indication that the ICC could make similar decisions regarding other Israel-related issues on the court’s agenda, such as the UN Human Rights Council report on last summer’s fighting in Gaza and dossiers presented to the court last month by the Palestinian Authority alleging Israeli crimes in the West Bank.
While Israel has not signed the Rome Treaty and therefore does not recognise the ICC’s jurisdiction, the Palestinian Authority joined it earlier this year and Israeli diplomats have met recently with ICC officials to explain why they believe it should not be intervening in Israeli affairs.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted angrily to the court’s decision saying: “At a time when in Syria Assad slaughters hundreds of thousands of his own people, when Iran sends hundreds to death, and Hamas in Gaza uses children as human shields, the court has chosen to deal with Israel for cynical political reasons.”
