Seven Palestinian students in Gaza learned today that their Fulbright scholarships had been withdrawn by the U.S. State Department after Israeli authorities refused to allow them to leave, according to The New York Times.

In an e-mail notice, the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem told the students that the grants would be “redirected” to other students as officials worried that the money would otherwise go unused, the Times reported.

Israeli officials seem divided on how to treat Palestinian students in Gaza, which is run by Hamas, a militant group that refuses to recognize Israel. In a hearing in Israel’s parliament on Wednesday, a defense-ministry official said that the security of Israelis remained the highest priority, so that people would be allowed to leave Gaza only for humanitarian reasons, the Times reported. But when a reporter queried the prime minster’s office about the Fulbright situation, an official there said education was considered a humanitarian concern.

A recent report by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights accuses Israel of preventing 722 students registered at universities abroad from leaving the Gaza Strip to continue their studies. —Beth McMurtrie