This was sparked by a 2015 declaration by the Palestian government to give jurisdiction to the intergovernmental institution „over alleged crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, since June 13, 2014.“

In December, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced that she had found a basis for an investigation against Israel and Hamas over suspicions that war crimes were committed in the Palestinian Territories in the period beginning in 2014. But she asked that the court issue a pre-trial ruling first on its jurisdiction in cases involving the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.