Petition to High Court demands ‘consistent, extensive supply of humanitarian aid’ to Gaza

The Gisha human rights organization, together with three other NGOs, files a petition to the High Court of Justice requesting it issue a court order against the government instructing it to facilitate a permanent and ongoing supply of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last night that “a basic quantity of food” would be allowed into Gaza to “prevent the development of a hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip,” although sources in the Prime Minister’s Office were later quoted as saying that the time period for the entry of such goods would be limited, while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the aid would be limited to the “minimum necessary.”

The Gisha petition however requests the court order the government to “ensure consistent and extensive supply of urgent humanitarian aid to Palestinian residents of Gaza.”

The petitioning organizations argue that the blockade on entry of all aid into Gaza imposed by Israel since March 2 violates the prohibition on using starvation as a weapon of war which, it says, “could amount to a war crime and even the crime of genocide,” and also constitutes collective punishment.

In March this year, the High Court rejected a previous similar petition by Gisha, asserting that Israel had taken numerous steps to facilitate the entry of sufficient aid into Gaza. That ruling stated explicitly however that it was not dealing with blockade imposed on March 2, and also determined that Israel had an obligation to “allow and facilitate” the entry of aid into the territory as a party to the hostilities.