KUALA LUMPUR – Turkiye has decided to suspend all trade with Israel until humanitarian aid is allowed to enter Gaza freely, its trade ministry has announced.
“Turkiye will strictly and decisively implement these new measures until the Israeli government allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza,” the ministry said in a statement published by foreign media.
The trade suspension will cover all products and both “exports and imports to and from Israel”, the ministry added.
Trade between the two countries was estimated to be worth almost US$7 billion (RM33 billion) last year.
Turkiye began diplomatic relations with Israel in 1949, becoming the first Muslim-majority country to do so.
It cut ties with Israel in 2010 over the killing of pro-Palestinian Turkish activists by Israel forces, before restoring ties again in 2016,
Israel’s latest offensive on Gaza on October 7, was launched in retaliation for cross-border attacks by Hamas. The war, now entering its eighth month, has killed over 34,000 people in Gaza, with the tens of thousands of casualties being women and children. Israel’s casualties are reportedly 1,170, according to AFP citing official Israeli figures.
Egypt has proposed a new ceasefire deal which Hamas is said to be considering, according to foreign media reports.
The fresh push for a ceasefire after previous failed talks comes as the United Nations says it would take until 2040 to rebuild all the homes that have been destroyed in the last seven months, which has displaced more than half of Gaza’s population, or 2.3 million people. – May 3, 2024