Turkey says trade with Israel halted until permanent Gaza ceasefire

Turkey has announced that it will not resume $7 billion in annual trade with Israel unless a durable truce and humanitarian aid are secured in Gaza.

Turkey’s Trade Minister Omer Bolat said Israel’s “uncompromising attitude” and the deteriorating situation in Gaza’s Rafah sector, a shelter for displaced Palestinians that Israel has threatened to storm, caused Ankara to suspend all exports and imports.

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz criticised Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s move, enacted late on Thursday, saying it breaks international trade agreements.

The militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza, praised the decision as brave and supportive of Palestinian rights.

Erdogan stated following Friday prayers that Turkey could not stand by in the face of the “Israeli bombardment of defenceless Palestinians.” Israel claims that it is pursuing terrorists who are hiding in residential areas.

“Palestinian brothers on alternative arrangements to ensure that they are not affected by this decision,” according to Bolat, was what Turkey was discussing with them.

Turkey banned exports of 54 product categories, including steel, fertilizer, and jet fuel, last month, citing Israel’s alleged refusal to permit Ankara to participate in humanitarian airdrops to Gaza.

The new ban covers all remaining trade, amounting to $5.4 billion in Turkish exports, or nearly 6% of all of Israel’s imports, and $1.6 billion in imports to Turkey last year.

Top Turkish exports to Israel are steel, vehicles, plastics, electrical devices and machinery, while imports are dominated by fuels at $634 million last year, Turkish trade data show.

Katz said blocking ports for Israeli imports and exports ignores trade deals, adding on social media platform X that Israel would work toward alternatives for trade with Turkey.

However, Meltem Skalar, professor at Marmara University’s Faculty of Law, said the move is likely a legal counter-measure by Turkey against Israeli breaches of universally accepted rules of humanitarian law in Gaza.

Turkey has denounced Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, sent thousands of tons of aid for Gazans, and, this week, said it would join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Israel denies committing acts of genocide in Gaza or violating humanitarian law there.