High Court gives state 5 extra days to respond to petitions over Gaza humanitarian crisis
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter

The High Court of Justice grants the state’s request for a five-day extension to provide additional information to the court about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the government’s efforts to alleviate a potential famine there.
The court requested the information following a hearing last week on a petition filed by the Gisha organization asking the court to order the government to provide unhindered access to Gaza for humanitarian supplies and accusing the government of obstructing relief efforts.
The court says it is granting the extension in light of the government’s decision last week to increase the supply of humanitarian aid to Gaza, including by opening up Ashdod Port for humanitarian deliveries and opening new goods crossings into the territory. Both these measures were requested by Gisha in its petition.
The state is given until Monday at 2 p.m. to file the requested supplementary information, and the court tells it specifically to include details about the supply of drinking water to northern Gaza, where the humanitarian crisis is most acute.
Gisha says it is “saddened” that the High Court allowed the state to merely make “declarations about future plans instead of taking immediate action to change the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Strip,” adding that “every minute which passes increases the danger to life and deepens the harm to the lives of civilians.”