Gaza War: Israel Faces Trade Restrictions With Turkey

Turkey announced on Tuesday that it would begin imposing trade restrictions on Israel because of the Gaza conflict, affecting a variety of goods such as building materials made of steel, iron, and cement.

The fresh actions follow Turkey’s claim the previous day that Israel had obstructed its attempt to airdrop supplies to Gaza.

“Until Israel immediately declares a ceasefire and permits an adequate and continuous flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, this decision will remain in place,” the trade ministry posted on social media.

A list of 54 items with export limitations was appended.

Retaliation against Israel for preventing Turkey’s air force from delivering aid to Gaza was promised by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday, and he said that they would be carried out “step by step” and “without delay.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave his approval to the export restrictions, he continued.

Israel’s bombardment on Gaza has drawn severe criticism from Turkey, where President Erdogan has called Israel a “terrorist state.”

Among his criticisms of Israel are claims that it is carrying out “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza as retaliation for the historic attack on October 7 by Hamas terrorists.

Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 33,207 individuals, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, while the attack claimed 1,170 lives, the majority of them civilians.

Erdogan has supported Hamas as “a liberation group” even though Israel, the US, and the EU all view the organization as terrorists.

Turkey’s economic embargo against Israel comes after internal criticism of the administration for delaying trade restrictions.

A little group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had gathered in Taksim Square, the heart of Istanbul, on Saturday were forcibly arrested by Turkish police as they demanded that the government sever commercial relations.

Pictures taken at the incident showed an officer slapping a protester.

The opposition CHP party, chaired by Ozgur Ozel, criticized the violent police response, calling it “a clear violation of freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and the constitution”.

Two police officers were suspended from service and an investigation into the forceful police response to the protest was launched, according to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.