GAZA CITY
Israel reopened its Erez border crossing with the Gaza Strip on Thursday to dozens of Palestinian medical patients after barring them from leaving for nearly 24 hours because their papers bore a "State of Palestine" logo, a Palestinian official said.
"Since [Thursday] morning, Israeli authorities have allowed 86 Palestinian medical patients into Israel and the West Bank through the Erez crossing," Maher Abu Sabha, head of Gaza's border authority, told Anadolu Agency.
Abu Sabha said passengers had been allowed through the crossing only after the logo was removed from their documents.
However, the Palestinian Authority (PA)'s Health Ministry in the West Bank denied that the logo had been removed as a precondition for entry, stressing that it was discussing the issue with Israel in hopes of reaching a "final solution."
On Wednesday, Palestinian medical patients waited for hours on the Palestinian side of the Gaza-Israel Erez crossing before PA liaison officers informed them of the ban.
Following the accession of Palestine as a non-member UN observer state in late 2012, the new "State of Palestine" logo replaced the traditional PA logo on official Palestinian documents.
Israel, which voted against upgrading Palestine's UN status, does not recognize the logo.
Hospitals in the Gaza Strip, which is home to nearly two million Palestinians, continue to suffer from a chronic lack of medicine and medical supplies due to Israel's years-long siege of the coastal enclave.
According to PA Health Ministry estimates, around 9,000 Gazans cross into the West Bank or Israel each year for medical treatment.
By Ola Attalah
englishnews@aa.com.tr
