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Trapped Palestinian students demand Gaza crossings reopen

Approximately 1,500 Palestinian students enrolled in foreign universities are stuck in Gaza, and are protesting for the reopening of the Rafah or Erez crossings.
Palestinians stand behind the bars of a symbolic cage as they take part in a rally calling on Egyptian authorities to open the Rafah border crossing, at the crossing in the southern Gaza Strip November 23, 2014.  Egypt's decision to shut its border with the Gaza Strip has stranded thousands of Palestinians on the Egyptian side of the border while around a thousand people in Gaza are desperate to get out for medical treatment in Egypt, officials in Gaza say. Egypt closed Rafah, the only crossing point betwee
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The continuing closure of the Rafah crossing threatens the ability of Palestinian students to travel abroad to complete their studies. This has led to a student movement in Gaza calling for the need to open the Rafah crossing, or an alternative such as allowing them to cross the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing.

Mohib Izz al-Din, a 22-year-old student, is one of the trapped students. He managed to obtain a scholarship to study medicine in Ukraine, but the closure of the Rafah crossing has prevented him from moving forward with his studies.

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