RAFAH, GAZA STRIP, September 18, 2013 (WAFA) – Hamas police Wednesday prevented Gaza students seeking to travel to Egypt through Rafah crossing to reach their colleges abroad from leaving the Strip, according to the students.

They said that around 200 students gathered at Rafah crossing after Egypt has decided to open it for a couple of days to allow students and other humanitarian cases out of Gaza.

However, Hamas members attacked the students with clubs and pushed them back with their jeeps to prevent them from leaving Gaza.

Students said that Hamas did this because they coordinated their travel with the Palestinian embassy in Cairo, as requested by the Egyptian authority to facilitate their travel.

The Palestinian embassy in Cairo had asked students who want to leave Gaza to attend colleges abroad to coordinate their travel through it due to the closure of the Rafah crossing since last week following an attack on Egyptian security personnel in Sinai.

Egypt agreed to open the crossing briefly on Wednesday and Thursday for special cases after President Mahmoud Abbas Monday called the head of the Egyptian intelligence, Mohammed Tohami, and requested that Egypt allows students, the sick and humanitarian cases to leave Gaza.

And that’s all for today from the IMEMC News; this was the Wednesday September 18th 2013 news round-up from the Disputed Palestinian Territories. For more news and updates please keep visiting our website at www.imemc.org. Today’s report has been brought to you by Ken O'Keefe and Alice Walker.