The 2010 Mavi Marmara incident that left nine Turkish activists dead. Photo: Free Gaza Movement.

JNS.org – In a surprise move, a panel of International Criminal Court (ICC) judges have ordered the court’s prosecutor to reconsider the decision not to investigate Israel for war crimes over the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident that left nine Turkish activists dead after they had attacked Israeli commandos on a vessel that tried to break the naval blockade of Gaza.

In a 2-1 ruling, the judges granted a request by the Comoros Islands to reconsider the case after the discovery of “material errors in the prosecutor’s assessment” of the matter.

In November 2014, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda concluded that the Mavi Marmara incident did not have “sufficient gravity” to be investigated by the ICC despite a “reasonable basis to believe that war crimes” were committed by Israel. As such, many considered the case to be closed until Thursday’s judicial order.