The Israeli ban keeps curbs to movements of Gazans who want to leave the territory by crossing through Israel.
An Israeli court on Wednesday denied a right to a Palestinian woman from the Gaza Strip to study in the Israeli-occupied West Bank despite Israel’s recent policy to ease the siege on the occupied Gaza land.
Three justices found for the Israeli Defence Ministry’s view that Fatima Sharif, 29, a Gaza human rights attorney, “failed to meet the criteria” for an exit permit to entitle her to travel to the land-locked West Bank.
Sharif had planned to pursue a master’s degree in human rights and democracy at Bir Zeit University near the West Bank town of Ramallah, where Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s headquarters are located.
“We were not persuaded that in the current political and security situation, that personal circumstances would justify any intervention in the decision,” the justices wrote.
Human rights activists say Sharif is one of thousands of Palestinians unable to cross to the West Bank from Gaza due to longstanding Israeli bans.
The Israeli ban keeps curbs to movements of Gazans who want to leave the territory by crossing through Israel.
Palestinians can only go out of Gaza through the territory’s border crossing with Egypt if borders are opened.
Sharif, who earned her law degree in Gaza, told Reuters she has not left the territory via Israel for years. “I feel like I’m living in a cage. Somebody is holding the key,” she said.
Source: Agencies