“The whole of the West works for Israel. The mobilization of these resources, (meant that) the destitute of Palestine were condemned to death in the face of these Israeli bombs. We could no longer take it,” said the president Turkish.
Speaking to reporters after Friday prayers in Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he had “closed this door” to trade with Israel, amid the war of the Jewish state against Hamas following the attack by the Islamist movement on October 7.
“The volume of trade between us amounted to 9.5 billion dollars”, said Mr. Erdogan, referring to Turkey and Israel. “Ignoring this commercial volume, we closed the door“.
Israel continues its assault on the Gaza Strip, where at least 34,622 Palestinians have been killed, mainly women and children, and 77,867 injured since October 7, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Israel began the military ground and air campaign in the Gaza Strip following a cross-border Hamas attack that Tel Aviv said left nearly 1,200 people dead.
The Israeli war against Gaza has forced 85% of the territory’s population to move within the country, amid severe shortages of food, drinking water and medicinewhile 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the United Nations.
Accusations of “genocide” in the International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) was seized on December 29, 2023 by South Africa of a complaint for genocide against Israel concerning Israel’s conduct in the Gaza Strip as part of the war between Israel and Hamas.
An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to end acts of genocide and take steps to guarantee the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli government has failed to comply with at least one measure of the ICJ’s legally binding order in the South African genocide case, say NGOs, including Human Rights Watch.
Will Türkiye join South Africa in its lawsuit against Israel?
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Turkey would join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Turkey, together with Colombia to formally request to join the case against Israel. Last month, the South American country asked the ICJ to allow it to join the case and ensure “the security and, indeed, the very existence of the Palestinian people.”
The ICJ can authorize states to intervene in cases and give their opinion.