Turkey's Israel trade freeze aimed at forcing Gaza truce, Erdogan says

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As it happened

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said Turkey's move to halt trade with Israel was aimed at forcing the country to a ceasefire over Gaza and increasing the amount of humanitarian aid entering the besieged enclave. Erdogan's words came after the UN humanitarian office said that an Israeli military offensive in Rafah would put the lives of hundreds of thousands of Gazans at risk. Follow our coverage of the Israel-Hamas war:

Issued on: 03/05/2024 - 05:04Modified: 04/05/2024 - 07:32

2 min

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint statement to the media in Baghdad, Iraq on April 22, 2024. © Ahmad al-Rubaye, AP

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Summary:

An Israeli military offensive in Rafah "could be a slaughter of civilians and an incredible blow to the humanitarian operation in the entire (Gaza) strip", UN spokesperson Jens Laerke said on Friday.
French police on Friday evacuated students at Paris's Sciences Po university who were staging a sit-in to protest the war in Gaza.
Turkey's trade minister on Friday said the country would halt trade with Israel until a permanent ceasefire in Gaza is secured and aid can flow freely into the region.
Police in the US have arrested more than 2,300 people during pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses across the country in recent weeks, sometimes using riot gear, tactical vehicles and flash-bang devices.
At least 34,622 Palestinians have been killed and an estimated 77,867 have been wounded in Israel's military offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.

Yesterday's key developments:

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. The ministry said that trade will be halted until Israel allows humanitarian aid to enter Gaza uninterrupted.
President Joe Biden on Thursday broke his virtual silence on the nationwide campus protests against the war in Gaza, saying the United States was not authoritarian but insisting that "order must prevail".
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said his country will cut diplomatic ties with Israel on Thursday, calling the government's actions in Gaza "genocidal".
A senior Palestinian doctor, Adnan Al-Bursh, died in an Israeli prison after more than four months of detention, two Palestinian prisoner associations said on Thursday, blaming Israel for his death.
A UN agency said Thursday that rebuilding war-wracked Gaza will cost an estimated $30 to $40 billion and require an effort on a scale the world has not seen since World War II.

About casualty figures from Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry:

Gaza's health ministry collects data from the enclave's hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent. For more on the health ministry's casualty figures, click here.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters, AP)