GAZA, Aug 3 (Reuters) - A Palestinian man seeking treatment in Israel for kidney failure died while waiting at a Gaza Strip crossing on Friday, Palestinian medics said. Israel had agreed to allow the 27-year-old patient, identified by the medics as Wael Abu Warda, to travel from Gaza to an Israeli hospital near Tel Aviv for treatment. Abu Warda arrived at the Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel on Thursday night but was not allowed through, said Muawiyeh Hassanein, head of the ambulance and emergency department at the health ministry in Gaza. An Israeli army spokeswoman said the request for Abu Warda to travel to an Israeli hospital had been withdrawn by Palestinian officials on Thursday. By the time the Palestinians had made a second request for Abu Warda to cross much time had gone by, she said, and he died on the Gaza side of the crossing. Abu Warda had said he was told by Israel to return to Erez on Friday morning. "We sent the ambulance to Erez. They had to wait about half an hour and the man died at the crossing," Hassanein said. The spokeswoman said another Palestinian patient had been allowed through the crossing on Friday. "We do not determine for the Palestinians which patients to prefer when they ask to send them to Israel for treatment," she said. Hamas Islamists seized control of the Gaza Strip in June, prompting Israel to largely close the main border crossings in and out of the coastal territory.
