Turkey halts all trade with Israel, cites worsening Palestinian situation

Turkey stopped all exports and imports to and from Israel as of Thursday, the Turkish trade ministry said, citing "worsening humanitarian tragedy" in the Palestinian territories. "Export and import transactions related to Israel have been stopped, covering all products," Turkey's trade ministry said in a statement. The country set a condition that it will lift its embargo on Israel if it chooses to provide unlimited humanitarian aid to Gaza, Y-Net reported. "Turkey will strictly and decisively implement these new measures until the Israeli Government allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza," the trade ministry said. Turkey's decision comes as unexpected, as Israel has chosen to increase its flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza in recent weeks.