Justices on Israel‘s High Court of Justice ordered the state to reconsider its stance regarding five female residents of Gaza who want to study Gender Studies in Birzeit University in the West Bank.

Justices Asher Grunis, Salim Joubran and Noam Solberg discussed the petition, which was filed by the five women, four of whom are in their thirties and forties and one is a high school graduate, against Israel’s refusal to allow them to leave Gaza. The five – Aza Kfarna, Andlib Sahada, Suheir Saqa, Amal Abu Isha and Lujin Zaim – are represented by Gisha, an Israeli NGO that deals with Palestinian freedom of moviement.

The justices, who read their decision at the end of the discussion, refrained from discussing Zaim’s case. Zaim, who is 18 years old, finished her high school final exams with honors and was accepted to Birzeit’s law program. The justices ordered the state to respond within 45 days.

Since late 2000, Israel has instituted a total ban on the passage of Gazan students to the West Bank, justifying the move due to the second intifada, Hamas‘ rise to power and the danger of increased terror activity in the West Bank. The ban has had a chilling effect, as young people in Gaza have stopped signing up for higher education in the West Bank.

In August 2007, the High Court of Justice rejected a petition to allow students from Gaza to study occupational therapy in Bethlehem. At the same time, it recommended the army allow Gazans to leave the Strip for the West Bank in the case that their studies would lead to "positive hunanitarian consequences.”

In July 2010, a lawyer from the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza petitioned (with the help of Gisha) against a ban that forbade her to exit Gaza for a master’s degree in democracy and human rights. The High Court ruled that it did not see a reason for deviating from a policy which forbids students from exiting the Strip for studies in the West Bank. Since 2000, Israel has allowed a total of three Gazans to study in the West Bank. All three received scholarships from the U.S. government.