Gaza patients denied access into Israel for using 'State of Palestine' term

68 Palestinian patients seeking treatment in Israel were denied access by Israeli authorities through Erez crossing with Gaza for holding documents using the term "State of Palestine", according to local source. "The patients were returned because the Palestinian Authority started to use documents with the term 'State of Palestine'" instead of the Palestinian National Authority, the Israeli official quoted an Israeli liaison official as saying. Israeli reports said that Israel will not accept any official documents that refer to a Palestinian state that Israel does not recognize. Palestinian officials at the Palestinian side of Erez crossing, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that the term of the State of Palestine has been used on official documents for Palestinian patients for years, adding "Israel never returned any patients for this reason before. This is a surprising." The Palestinians started to use the State of Palestine term instead of the Palestinian National Authority after the General Assembly upgraded Palestine's status to a nonmember observer state in November 2012.