The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced on Thursday that war crimes committed by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) when they laid siege to a flotilla boat headed to Gaza in 2010 were not grave enough for a prosecution.

While available evidence suggest war crimes under the ICC's jurisdiction were committed aboard the Mayi Marmara on May 31, 2010, these are not sufficient enough to warrant further action by the ICC, chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement.

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The international court launched a preliminary examination on the incident last year in lieu of a complaint filed by the African state Comoros, under whose flag the Mayi Marmara was sailing.

Bensouda's findings, detailed in a 61-page report, concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe that IDFs had willfully killed, willfully committed serious injury, and committed crimes against personal dignity.

Still, the court determined that the crimes - which resulted in the deaths of nine Turks and one Turkish-American and left several pro-Palestine activists injured - were not of "sufficient gravity," German broadcaster Deutshe Welle relayed.

Bensouda justified the decision by citing the Rome Statute, an ICC document that gives priority to war crimes that are either executed on a large-scale level or based on a policy or plan.

Despite this, Comoros' legal representative, Turkish attorney Ramazan Ariturk, vowed to pursue the case.

The struggle for justice involves both a moral and legal aspect, he said, pledging to appeal the case to a higher court in the ICC.

"I have no doubt of our success," he added.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Foreign Ministry welcomed the ICC's decision to close the investigation, which it described as having been "politically motivated" and "legally unfounded."

It claimed its defense forces had merely reacted in self-defense and noted that the prosecutor had seen no need to pursue such an issue.

TagsInternational Criminal Court, Mayi Marmara, War Crimes, Israel, Fatou Bensouda, Gaza