"We are working very closely with the Government of Israel in order to secure its cooperation in this matter," the letter said.

On Monday, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev indicated the problem would be solved.

Israel, he added, "sincerely hopes that it will be possible to get the students out by the beginning of the coming academic year."

All Gazans who exit the territory need to undergo tight Israeli security checks.

Israel allows pressing humanitarian cases to leave Gaza, but officials say students are not included in that definition. Some 500 students and their dependents have been allowed to leave over the past year. But exit permits have dried up in recent months in the wake of militant attacks on Israel, according to an Israeli human rights group, Gisha, that has been helping Gaza students leave for studies abroad.

Gisha director Sari Bashi welcomed the U.S. consulate's pledge to help the students. Gisha "calls on Israel to allow all students with scholarships trapped in Gaza to leave and study abroad," she said.

The United States started appealing to Israel on Friday. The lobbying included a call from the No. 3 State Department official to Israel's ambassador in Washington on Friday morning.

Named for the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright, the grants are the flagship U.S. government educational exchange program. They go to U.S. citizens and nationals of other countries for a variety of educational activities, primarily university lecturing, advanced research, graduate study and teaching in elementary and secondary schools. The $198 million annual program brings 7,000 foreign students to the United States.

Click here to post and read comments