Turkey imposes trade restrictions on Israel until Gaza ceasefire

Turkey said Tuesday it was imposing trade restrictions on Israel affecting a range of products until Israel declares a ceasefire in Gaza.

The restrictions cover trade in 54 categories, including iron, steel, cement, aviation fuel and fertilizers.

The move comes a day after Israel blocked a Turkish request to carry out an airdrop of aid to Gaza. Several countries have carried out aid drops to try to counter what humanitarian organizations have said is a lack of adequate access to deliver much-needed aid through land crossings.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz pledged to respond with parallel measures against Turkey, saying Israel would not respond to violence and extortion.

Katz posted on X that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is sacrificing the economic interests of the Turkish people to support Hamas assassins in Gaza.

Following ceasefire talks in Cairo attended by US, Israeli, Hamas and Qatar officials, the Hamas militant group was studying the latest proposal for a halt to fighting coupled with the release of hostages held in Gaza .

The proposal calls for a six-week ceasefire, the release of some hostages in Gaza, Israel's release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, an increase in humanitarian aid arriving in Gaza and the return of Palestinians displaced in the northern part of the country. Gaza strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he had received a detailed report on the Cairo talks.

We are constantly working to achieve our goals, first and foremost the release of all our hostages and complete victory over Hamas, Netanyahu said. “This victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of terrorist battalions. It will happen. There is a date.

The United States immediately reprimanded Netanyahu. A Pentagon spokeswoman said: “We have been very clear that we do not support operations in Rafah. »

“We want to see a credible plan for how they will conduct their operations there,” given “substantial” humanitarian concerns about more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering there, deputy press secretary said from the Pentagon, Sabrina Singh. We have not seen their official plan presented. »

The White House described the negotiations as serious.

“We are now at the point that a proposal has been presented to Hamas and we are awaiting Hamas' response,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “Now it will be up to Hamas to survive.”

Kirby declined to discuss details of the proposed deal, adding that “it would be one of the surest ways to torpedo this.”

The back-and-forth negotiations over a ceasefire and the release of hostages, coupled with the threat of a protracted war, came days after US President Joe Biden warned Netanyahu of the possibility of a change in American support for the Israeli war effort.

Biden demanded that Israel immediately allow more humanitarian aid into the besieged war zone to help starving Palestinians and allow its negotiators to reach an immediate ceasefire.

Biden's demands came after an Israeli airstrike killed seven international aid workers who were trying to deliver food to Gaza.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reinforced that message in a phone call Monday with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the Pentagon said.

Austin discussed the need to significantly increase the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, as well as the Israeli military's investigation into the strike that killed workers at the aid group World Central Kitchen.

Minister Gallant provided details on the IDF withdrawal from parts of Gaza and the future of Israel's campaign against Hamas, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement. Secretary Austin expressed his commitment to supporting the unconditional return of all hostages and expressed hope that ongoing negotiations would result in a pause in hostilities.

Kirby said on Sunday: “We have seen more than 300 [humanitarian aid] trucks are entering Gaza, and that is progress. But obviously we need to see this number increase, and we need to see it maintained to truly address the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. »

Israeli officials are also expected to visit the White House in the coming days to hear U.S. concerns about a possible Israeli offensive on Rafah.

“We do not support a major ground operation in Rafah,” Kirby said. We also see no signs that a ground operation of this magnitude is imminent, or that these troops [moved out of Khan Younis] are repositioned for this type of ground operation.

Hamas is believed to still be holding around 100 hostages in Gaza, among around 250 it captured during its shock October 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people.

As of mid-February, 112 hostages had been freed, most during a week-long ceasefire in November, while another 36 are believed to have died or been killed in Gaza during six months of fighting .

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says the Israeli counter-offensive has killed more than 33,000 people, two-thirds of them women and children. The Israeli military says that total includes thousands of militants killed.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.