Court gavel
Photograph by: .

Army said she had deceived authorities

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"It was the hearing they should have held before they arrested, handcuffed, blindfolded and removed her to Gaza," lawyer Yadim Elam said as he emerged from the hearing.

Berlanty Azzam, 21, briefly appeared on the Israeli side of the border as she shook hands with her lawyer, but was then escorted back to the maze of corridors leading to the Gaza side.

Azzam, with only two months left in which to complete her bachelor's degree at the Vatican-sponsored Bethlehem University in the West Bank, was detained and sent to the Gaza Strip on October 28 because her ID card listed a Gaza address.

The army said she had "deceived the authorities" by living illegally in the West Bank since 2005 after she was refused a permit to study there.

Elam dismissed the claim.

"It is absurd to think a Palestinian needs a permit to study in the West Bank only because he has an ID that says he resides in Gaza.

"It's against international law and international agreements signed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority," he said.

The army has until Sunday to inform the Supreme Court of its decision.

The court ordered the hearing after finding that the army failed to follow due process when it whisked Azzam off to Gaza without allowing her to present her case.

Residents of Gaza cannot leave the tiny enclave, except in the event of a medical emergency because of an embargo Israel imposed after the Islamist Hamas movement seized power there in 2007 in a bloody coup.

Hamas ousted secular forces loyal to moderate Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, who now holds sway only in the West Bank.