The High Court of Justice hammered the state on Sunday for its inability to answer basic questions about the status of six West Bank outposts designated for evacuation.

On June 22, the state had previously asked for a seven month delay for evacuating various outposts, including Givat Assaf.

Prior to June 22, the state had previously promised the court that by July 1 it would take down Givat Assaf's 25 caravans, which are perched on a small hill next to Route 60 and close to the Beit El settlement.

On Sunday, the state maintained that it should have more time to address the issue of evacuation because it had not sorted out the details about which parts of the outposts may have been newly purchased by Jewish settlers.

The court demanded to know what percentage of the outposts had been newly purchased and the names of the purchasers, among other basic information.

When the state was unable even to answer these questions, the court lectured the state repeatedly about how the hearing could not continue without any concrete information.

The state retorted that even though it had admitted that the land in question was private Palestinian land, that it should have more time to respond both to address the property rights issues which invariably take time to verify and complete, and because the case at stake is of high public interest.