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GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israel's Defense Ministry said Thursday it would not allow five female students from Gaza to go to university in the West Bank, rights groups said.

In May, Israel's Supreme Court ordered the ministry to reconsider its refusal to allow the students to travel to the West Bank, after Israel admitted there were no individual security concerns about any of the students.

On Thursday, Israel's General Eitan Dangot said the students would not be allowed to travel because of "substantial political and security reasons," the Israeli organization Gisha said in a statement.

The five students -- four of whom are veteran women's rights activists -- are enrolled to study gender studies, democracy and law programs at Birzeit University near Ramallah. There are no Master's programs in gender studies or democracy in the Gaza Strip.

Israel controls all the entry points to the West Bank so residents of Gaza need Israel's approval to travel there.

Sameer Zaqout, of the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, told Ma'an the decision reflected Israel's view of Gaza as a "hostile entity," noting that the Attorney General had acknowledged the five women posed no security threat.

Gisha said Israel's blanket ban on students traveling from Gaza to the West Bank was in breach of international law and inconsistent with Israel's commitments under the Oslo Accords.

"This is the second time the Supreme Court has recommended that the state consider exceptions to the ban on travel by students from Gaza to the West Bank, and the second time the state has refused. The state's response shows no indication that it did in fact reconsider its position, as ordered by the court," Gisha's legal director Nomi Heger said.

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GAZA, July 26, 2012 (WAFA) – The Gaza-based al-Mezan, a human rights group, and the Israeli Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement decided Thursday to ask the Israeli High Court to hold an urgent session to discuss the situation of five college students from Gaza who have been banned from returning to their West Bank universities to continue their higher education.

A statement by the two organizations said that since the new school year starts on August 22, they will ask the High Court to issue an injunction against a decision by the state prosecutor that would allow the five students to return to their colleges in the West Bank.

The prosecutor, in response to a High Court request that it reconsider an earlier decision banning the students from completing their higher education in West Bank universities, said that the ban will continue. The case was therefore returned to the High Court to rule on it.

Al-Mezan and Gisha said the prosecutor admitted in May that there were no security reasons for banning the students from returning to the West Bank to complete their college education, but rather the ban is against all Gaza students who want to study in the West Bank.

However, the Israeli government’s military coordinator in the occupied Palestinian territories claimed that the ban was due to “highly important political and security reasons.”

Israel has banned Gaza resident from being in the West Bank in the last 10 years without a special permit. Gazans can reach the West Bank only through the Israeli crossings, mainly Erez, in northern Gaza.

M.S.