Three Palestinian students from the Gaza Strip recently had their Fulbright Scholarships reinstated after the U.S. State Department withdrew them in May, citing border restrictions preventing the students from obtaining visas. Neighboring countries Israel and Egypt both sealed off their borders last June when the militant Islamist party Hamas seized power, preventing the students from leaving the Gaza Strip. As the U.S. government does not recognize the Hamas government the students had no way to obtain visas. In order to accommodate the students, U.S. officials traveled to the Gaza border to process their visa applications. After news of the scholarship withdrawal made headlines in May, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stepped in and four of the Fulbright scholars were able to apply for their visas in Jerusalem. After this most recent trip by U.S officials to the Gaza border, the remaining three have now been issued visas as well.

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