Turkey Sparks Trade Tensions with Israel Over Blocked Gaza Aid

- "Israel has no excuse to block our attempt to drop aid for the starving residents of Gaza," said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Ankara responded to Tel Aviv's move with trade restrictions and announced further steps.

Aid drops for the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip, which is in a dire situation, began in March by the United States. Other countries that joined the initiative include the Netherlands, France, and Spain.

- "We also requested to be included in this humanitarian operation involving (Turkish) air force transport aircraft." Today, we learned that our request was rejected by Israel, despite a positive attitude from the Jordanian authorities," said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Turkey announced the limitation of exports of 54 product categories to the Gaza Strip. This includes building materials such as cement, steel products, and aluminium.

It should be added that demonstrations were held against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over the weekend. The country's trade with Israel was criticised. The official Anatolia agency, however, citing sources from the Ministry of Trade, reported that from 7 October 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, to 20 March, the trade between Turkey and Israel fell by 33%. Turkish exports to Israel decreased by 30%, and imports from Israel by about 43%.

Aid from Turkey has reached Gaza by land thus far. The thing is, since the beginning of the conflict, Israel has been hindering the provision of humanitarian aid to civilians.

The UN humanitarian coordinator Jamie McGoldrick said on Monday that there is growing hope in the occupied Palestinian territories for an increase in food supplies to the Gaza Strip.

- "Israeli authorities have committed to increasing the flow of humanitarian aid" under pressure from Washington - although it is not clear when any policy changes will occur," said McGoldrick.

In his opinion, political pressure in Israel and growing international condemnation following the killing of seven volunteers and workers from World Central Kitchen (including a Pole) combined with months of UN action should translate to an increase in aid for the residents of the Gaza Strip.