The ICC prosecutor’s office said on 18 March 2021 that it had sent formal notices to Israel and the Palestinian Authority giving them a month "to seek deferral by proving they are carrying out their own investigations". The prosecutor’s office confirmed in a written statement to the Associated Press "that on March 9 the letters were sent to all of the court’s member states." On 18 March, 2021, the Times of Israel, citing Israel's Channel 13, reported that Israel received a letter from the ICC briefly laying out the three main areas the investigation will cover: the 2014 Gaza War, Israeli settlement policy and the 2018–2019 Gaza border protests. Israel was given 30 days to respond. After being interrogated at the Jordan Palestine border crossing following his return to the West Bank on 21 March, 2021, after a meeting with the ICC Prosecutor at The Hague, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Riyad Malki said that the Israeli authorities threatened to impose sanctions for communicating with the ICC but that contact would continue regardless. On 8 April 2021, Israel said it will write to say that it will not cooperate with the ICC’s investigation, arguing that the court did not have jurisdiction and pointing to its own independent judiciary capable of trying soldiers who commit war crimes.