A four year old Palestinian child was abandoned by his father at Erez crossing on Tuesday, COGAT [Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories] said in a press release on Thursday. After leaving his child with a stranger, the father chose to remain in Israel illegally.

The numbers of Palestinian parents entering Israel with children in need of medical care and abandoning them at Erez Crossing are on the rise, COGAT warns.

"As a father myself I can't understand how a parent leaves his child with stranger," said COGAT officer Col. Iyad Sarhan.

"As a man and as a father I hope this terrible thing stops," he said, "and that the people of Gaza will put their children at the top of their priorities."

One of the users of the COGAT Facebook page wrote in Arabic in response to the post by Sarhan "we want to live, Jews, give us work permit." One of the users of the COGAT Facebook page wrote in Arabic in response to the post by Sarhan "we want to live, Jews, give us work permit."

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