File picture of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
| Photo Credit: AP

Turkey has halted all exports and imports to and from Israel, citing the escalating humanitarian situation in Gaza, announced the Turkish Ministry of Trade, Al Jazeera reported.

“Export and import transactions related to Israel have been stopped, covering all products,” the Ministry said in a statement on May 3.

“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 decision follows remarks by Israel’s foreign minister, who accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of violating agreements by obstructing Israeli imports and exports from ports.

“This is how a dictator behaves, disregarding the interests of the Turkish people and businessmen, and ignoring international trade agreements,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz posted on X.

Mr. Katz disclosed that he has directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to explore alternative trade options with Turkey, focusing on domestic production and imports from other nations. In 2023, the trade volume between the two nations amounted to $6.8 billion.

Last month, Turkey imposed trade restrictions on Israel, alleging Israel’s obstruction of Ankara’s participation in Gaza aid airdrops and its military actions in the region.

When questioned about Turkey’s continued trade relations with Israel despite Ankara’s strong rhetoric, Mr. Erdogan responded last month by stating that Turkey no longer engages in “intense trade” with Israel, asserting, “That is done.”

However, he did not explicitly state that Ankara had completely ceased all trade with Israel, Al Jazeera reported.

The United States will continue dropping essential aid from the air into the Gaza Strip, the White House said Tuesday, after Palestinian militant group Hamas called for them to end following fatal drownings and stampedes.

“Air drops are one of the many ways that we are helping to provide desperately needed aid to Palestinians in Gaza, and we will continue to do so,” the National Security Council said in a statement, after Hamas said that 18 people had died, 12 of them by drowning while trying to recover dropped food supplies.

The NSC said the United States was working “around the clock” to increase the flow of aid into Gaza by land, adding that efforts were also underway to establish a maritime corridor to reach the territory.

“Let’s be clear, Hamas started this war and has refused to agree to a hostage deal that would create the conditions to facilitate a surge in humanitarian assistance,” the statement said.

Hamas urged Tuesday for an end to airdrops — whereby aid packages are dropped with parachutes from a plane — saying they were too risky.

In a statement, Hamas called for “an immediate end to airdrop operations” and “the immediate and rapid opening of land crossings to allow humanitarian aid to reach our Palestinian people.”

The UN children’s fund, UNICEF, has said vastly more aid must be rushed into Gaza by road, rather than air or sea, to avert an “imminent famine.”

New Delhi:

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that India is concerned over the conflict in Gaza and stressed that humanitarian crisis arising from conflicts require a sustainable solution that gives immediate relief to those most-affected. He asserted that world needs to be clear that terrorism and hostage taking “unacceptable.”

In his virtual address at the 55th Session of the Human Rights Council, Mr Jaishankar said, “The conflict in Gaza is of great concern to us all. The humanitarian crisis arising from conflicts require a sustainable solution that gives immediate relief to those most affected. At the same time, we must be clear that terrorism and hostage-taking are unacceptable.”

“It also goes without saying that international humanitarian law must always be respected. It is vital that the conflict does not spread within or beyond the region. And efforts must also focus on seeking a two-state solution where Palestinian people can live within secure borders,” he added.

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first world leaders to call out Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7 as a terror attack. Following Hamas’ attack, Israel launched a counter-offensive against the terrorist group in Gaza.

Highlighting India’s approach, he said, “Let me recall what Indian civilizational thought has always emphasized that the world shares one earth, we are one family and we have one future. Both as a motivating vision and as a call for action, this Indian approach is one of recognizing that we are defined more by how much we are alike than by our differences. But the many are impacted by the choices made by even a few and that this interconnectedness means a genuine dialogue as the only way to find solutions is not just and imperative but in fact inevitable.”

He stated that nations need to work together in the United Nations and outside to find lasting solutions to geopolitical challenges and called it a “collective responsibility.” He stressed that it is important to recognise that they need to reform “outdated structures and fix systemic flaws” for multilateralism to be credible, effective and responsive.

In his remarks at the 55th session of the Human Rights Council, he said, “It is therefore in our collective interest and responsibility to work together in the UN and outside to find lasting solutions to geopolitical challenges. For this to happen it is vital that we first recognize that for multilateralism to be credible, effective and responsive it is now high time to reform outdated structures and fix systemic flaws and urgently make multilateral frameworks fit for purpose reflecting current global realities. Let me conclude by reaffirming India’s steadfast commitment to global promotion and protection of human rights and to their enjoyment by our people.”

He noted that India’s approach to human rights is rooted in democratic principles and pluralistic ethos. He said that society and polity of India are enchored by the institutional strengths of an independent judiciary, robust media and vibrant civil society.

He said, “India’s approach to human rights is rooted in our democratic principles and pluralistic ethos. Our constitution guarantees protection of civil and political rights and provides for progressive realization of economic, social and cultural rights. Our society and polity are anchored by our institutional strengths of an independent judiciary, robust media and vibrant civil society. These values have continued to inform India’s policies domestically, and globally. And therefore, I believe we have much to contribute.”

Calling 2024 an important year for India’s democracy, Mr Jaishankar said nearly 960 million voters are gearing up to exercise the right to vote in the upcoming elections. He said, “This is not merely a political exercise, but a celebration of democracy, a festival where every voice resonates and every vote counts. In a world where the principles of democracy are constantly tested, India stands as a beacon of hope and resilience, showcasing the power of the people to shape their collective future.”

Speaking about the achievements of India’s G20 Presidency, he said that African Union became a permanent member of the G20 and stated that G20 New Delhi Leaders Declaration put forth solutions for various sectors, including digital public infrastructure, climate action and women-led development.

Mr Jaishankar said, “On India’s initiative, the African Union became a permanent member of the G20. The G20 New Delhi Leaders Declaration put forth solutions on a range of domains such as digital public infrastructure, climate action, reforming international financial institutions, women-led development, education, AI to name a few.”

He expressed India’s readiness to share its experiences and expertise with those who wish to benefit from it. He said that India’s development cooperation which spans across the globe is guided by the “priorities of our partners, creates local capacities and adheres to fiscal responsibility and transparency.”

Highlighting efforts of India in helping nations when they were in need, Mr Jaishankar said that India’s was first responder during disaster emergencies in Turkey and Syria in 2023. He said that India provided assistance to Sri Lanka when it faced a severe economic crisis.

He said, “India has been at the forefront of lending a helping hand when it is most needed. We demonstrated this during the COVID pandemic. also as first responders in disaster emergencies like in Turkey and Syria last year and when Sri Lanka experienced a severe economic crisis. Under Prime Minister Modi’s vision of inclusive development with everyone’s participation, trust and contribution, India is firm in its resolve to ensuring a life of dignity for our people with our priority to gender empowerment.”

Mr Jaishankar said that one-third seats were reserved for women in legislatures of India. He stated that India’s rapid progress in meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets, financial inclusion and democratization of technology will be of help to other countries on a similar journey.

“We have thus taken a lead to forge partnerships such as International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, the Global Biofuel Alliance, and promoted initiatives such as the International Year of Millets to help countries address the challenges of climate change and food security,” he added.

He even congratulated United Nations Human Rights Council President Omar Zniber on his re-election as the President of the Council and assured him of Indian delegation’s full supporty and cooperation to him and all mechanisms of the Council. Mr Jaishankar stated that India remains committed to working with Council members and observers for promotion and protection of all human rights.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

At least 22 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis as fighting in the war-torn Gaza Strip continued on Thursday. Over 100 people were rescued from under the rubble of a family house and its surroundings in the city of Khan Yunis, which is in the south of Gaza.

Footages from the rescue operation showed a Gazan boy being rescued from rubble after his home was hit by an Israeli airstrike. The rescuers can be seen toiling in the ruins of the wrecked buildings trying to save the child.

According to the UN, about 1,600 people, including 900 children, have been reported missing and may be under the rubble in Gaza. As many as 481 people, including 209 kids, were killed over the past 24 hours, a UN report said.

About 45 per cent of housing units in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed (16,441), rendered uninhabitable (11,340), or moderately/lightly damaged (1,50,000), since the start of the hostilities, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing.

Israel had told civilians in the northern Gaza Strip on October 12 to move to the south of the enclave, saying it would be safer there as its military attacked Hamas.

However, Israel has continued to hit sites in southern Gaza, spreading fear among the evacuees that they are just as vulnerable there as they were in their homes in the north. 

The bombardment of the south reportedly intensified on October 25 with a strike bringing down several apartment buildings in Khan Younis.

Israel has claimed that the Hamas operatives killed 1,400 people in their surprise cross-border attack on October 7, while Gaza’s health ministry has said that more than 7,000 Palestinians have died in air strikes since then.

Nowhere is safe in Gaza

As Israel continued its bombardment, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Lynne Hastings, said that “nowhere is safe in Gaza”. In a statement, she said that despite the Israeli military issuing warnings to people in Gaza City to leave, “advance warnings make no difference”.

“When the evacuation routes are bombed, when people north as well as south are caught up in hostilities when the essentials for survival are lacking, and when there are no assurances for return, people are left with nothing but impossible choices. Nowhere is safe in Gaza,” she said.

An estimated 1.4 million people in Gaza are internally displaced, with some 6,41,000 sheltering in 150 UN-designated emergency shelters.

Humanitarian aid arrives in Gaza

The Rafah crossing with Egypt opened for the sixth consecutive day on Thursday, allowing the entry of 12 trucks carrying water, food, and medical supplies. The total number of trucks with humanitarian aid that entered Gaza since October 21 have now increased to 74. 

The entry of fuel, however, remains banned by the Israeli authorities. 

Members of the U.S. Jewish community protest against the Israeli military operation in Gaza inside the Cannon building in the US Capitol in Washington, DC on October 18, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AFP

U.S. President Joe Biden will give a primetime speech on Thursday about the conflict between Israel and Hamas and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the White House said Wednesday.

Mr. Biden will speak at 8 p.m. (0000 GMT) in the Oval Office, from which presidents have traditionally addressed the nation at times of critical national importance.

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“Tomorrow, President Biden will address the nation to discuss our response to Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel and Russia’s ongoing brutal war against Ukraine,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

The speech comes a day after Mr. Biden returns from a trip to Israel to show solidarity after the October 7 Hamas attack, and as he prepares to ask Congress for a joint $100 billion package that includes money for Ukraine, Israel and the southern U.S. border.

Mr. Biden, a Democrat, said in Tel Aviv on Wednesday that he would ask Congress for an “unprecedented support package for Israel’s defense” later this week.

The US Congress has been paralyzed by the absence of a speaker in the House of Representatives for more than two weeks.

And U.S. lawmakers rejected hard-line Republican Jim Jordan’s bid for speaker for a second time on Wednesday.

But the package is intended to bypass congressional chaos and bring Democrats, who have sought additional aid for Kyiv for weeks, together with Republicans, who want funds to tighten controls on the southern border with Mexico.

Support for Taiwan — the self-governing democracy which China claims and has not ruled out seizing by force — is also expected to be in the bill.

Mr. Biden recently called key allies to reassure them of continued U.S. military aid for Ukraine, even as the White House warned the flow would dry up in months if Congress blocks new funds.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Congress in September in a bid to convince Republicans to keep the aid coming and help his country ward off the Russian invasion.

Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The escalating tensions in Gaza have come under sharp focus in Sri Lanka, an island nation that is struggling to get out of its own devastating civil war, nearly 15 years after it ended.

While President Ranil Wickremesinghe recently called for a “four-state” solution involving Israel, Gaza, Palestine, and Lebanon, to resolve the crisis, he also shared his concerns with caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Tuesday. The regional leaders are currently in China to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

According to an update posted by the Pakistani Prime Minister’s office on social media platform X, the two leaders expressed “deep concern at the grave humanitarian situation in Gaza caused by the ongoing Israeli attacks. They called for “immediate cessation of hostilities by Israel; establishment of a humanitarian corridor to provide aid to the besieged people of Gaza; and a two-state solution, resulting in the establishment of a viable and contiguous Palestinian State with pre-1967 borders and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital”, the post said.

Expressing solidarity

Meanwhile, key political actors from different parties in Sri Lanka have voiced concern on the ongoing violence.

Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa has called for an urgent parliamentary debate on the issue, while observing that “state terrorism” was leading to “hundreds of deaths”. On Wednesday, Mr. Premadasa presented a motion urging the House to call upon the United Nations to convene its Security Council to end the ongoing conflict. Terming the hospital bombing in Gaza a “massacre”, he urged the permanent members of the UN to take necessary measures to stop the “ongoing terrorism and state terrorism”.

The Gaza hospital bombing comes days before Sri Lanka’s Tamils, who bore the brunt of island’s long civil war, commemorate the brutal attack on the Jaffna teaching hospital in 1987 by members of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). Some 70 civilians, including 21 medical personnel, were killed on October 21 and 22, 1987.

Prominent leaders have also visited the Palestinian Embassy in Colombo to express solidarity. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa emphasised the urgency of peace in his recent meeting with the Palestinian Ambassador, Mr. Rajapaksa’s office said. “I have consistently supported the Palestinian cause as the Founder and President of the Sri Lanka Society for Solidarity with Palestine. War is never a solution,” said Mr. Rajapaksa, whose government is accused of committing grave human rights violations during the final phase of Sri Lanka’s civil war — fought between the armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam — which claimed at least 40,000 civilian lives. He has consistently denied the allegations, contending that his forces’ actions were part of a “humanitarian operation”.

On Wednesday, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Member of Parliament and leader of the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) met the Palestinian Ambassador in Colombo to express solidarity. He sought the UN’s “fair intervention” and implementation of the two-state solution. Civic activists and rights defenders in Sri Lanka have also been organising protests in solidarity with Palestine over the last few days.

Muscat:

The Gulf Cooperation Council on Tuesday announced $100 million in emergency aid for the Gaza Strip, as Israel bombards targets in the enclave during its war against Hamas militants.

After an extraordinary meeting in Muscat, the bloc’s foreign ministers pledged “an urgent humanitarian relief operation” with “relief aid worth $100 million”.

The top diplomats of the six GCC countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — met as at least 200 people were killed in strikes on a Gaza hospital compound sheltering displaced people, said Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.

Israel blamed a misfired rocket from Islamic Jihad, another Gaza-based militant group which has claimed to be fighting alongside Hamas.

After the Palestinian militants of Hamas burst through Israel’s heavily fortified Gaza border 11 days ago, shooting, mutilating and burning more than 1,400 people in southern Israel, Israel’s retaliatory bombing raids have killed around 3,000 Gazans.

The GCC meeting’s final statement stressed “the necessity of ensuring the urgent delivery of this aid” without specifying how it will get to Gaza.

In recent days, Gulf countries have sent plane-loads of assistance to Egypt’s El Arish, hoping to send it through the Rafah border point — Gaza’s only crossing that is not under Israeli control.

On Tuesday, hundreds of laden trucks headed along the 40-kilometre (25-mile) road from El Arish to Rafah, aid officials said.

So far Egypt has kept the Rafah crossing closed, both to aid going in and foreign nationals trying to flee, as Israel has repeatedly struck the Palestinian side of the crossing.

GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi “called on the international community to… demand an immediate halt to all forms of military escalation against defenceless civilians in Gaza”, an English statement on the GCC website said.

The international community must also “categorically reject any calls to forcibly displace the Palestinian people from Gaza, as this represents a violation of basic human rights and international principles”, it added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Tirana, Albania, on October 16, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

The European Union will launch a humanitarian air corridor to Gaza through Egypt with the first flights expected this week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Monday.

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“Palestinians in Gaza are in need of humanitarian help and aid. That is why… we are launching an EU humanitarian air bridge to Gaza through Egypt. The first two flights will start this week,” Ms. von der Leyen told a press conference in the Albanian capital Tirana, where she attended a regional Balkan summit.

The operation is consisting of “several flights to Egypt to bring lifesaving supplies to humanitarian organisations on the ground in Gaza”, a statement from the Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) department said.

The first two flights this week will be carrying humanitarian cargo from UNICEF including shelter items, medicines and hygiene kits, it said.

Earlier Monday, Egypt and France’s foreign ministers urged the delivery of humanitarian aid and the exit of foreign nationals from the bombarded Gaza Strip, as the war between Israel and Hamas entered its tenth day.

Israel has been at war since Gaza’s Hamas militants staged an unprecedented attack on October 7 in which its gunmen shot, stabbed and mutilated people in a surprise onslaught that shocked the nation.

The attack and fighting since have killed more than 1,400 in Israel, mainly civilians.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and responded with a heavy bombing campaign on Gaza that has killed around 2,750 people.

According to the United Nations, a million people have been displaced inside Gaza.

Ms. von der Leyen said that there could be “no justification for Hamas’ heinous act of terror.”

“In the face of this horror Israel has the right to defend itself in line with humanitarian and international law,” she said and stressed that Palestinians in Gaza “cannot pay the price of Hamas’ barbarism”.

She reminded that the EU was tripling humanitarian aid to 75 million euros ($79 million) for the Gaza Strip.

Washington:

US President Joe Biden weighed a trip to Israel while he cautioned against long-term Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip on Sunday, as the White House sought to balance support for the country with fears that the regional crisis could escalate. No decision about whether to travel to Israel had yet been made, according to two people familiar with the internal discussions, and a spokesperson for the National Security Council said the White House didn’t have a trip to announce.

But the possible trip – and acknowledgment of concerns voiced by Palestinians in Gaza and Arab leaders across the region – were the latest signal that the US was trying to keep the crisis from further escalating.

Biden stressed his belief that Israel would act by the rules of war and that innocent civilians would have access to medicine, food and water in an interview with CBS News’s “60 Minutes.” He also said he didn’t believe Israel should control the territory long-term, saying instead the territory should be governed by “a Palestinian authority.”

“I think it’d be a big mistake,” Biden said. “Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don’t represent all the Palestinian people.”

The interview, which aired Sunday night, came as Israeli Defense Forces were readying a ground invasion of Gaza, prompting hundreds of thousands of residents to flee south. The mass migration has prompted concerns of a humanitarian crisis, and Palestinian officials said more than 2,600 people in Gaza have been killed.

Frayed Relationship

Accepting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s invitation – extended in a phone call Saturday – could both signal solidarity after the deadly Hamas attack and help jumpstart regional efforts to limit the scope of the conflict and provide humanitarian assistance.

Biden and the Israeli leader last met in September during the United Nations meetings in New York. Their relationship has been frayed this year amid Netanyahu’s effort to strip power from Israel’s judicial branch.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to return to Israel on Monday after meetings with Saudi and Egyptian leaders, and Axios reported that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has also invited Biden to an international conference regarding the conflict. Palestinian and Israeli leaders have been pushing Egypt to help mediate the conflict, and the US has pushed the country to open the Rafah border crossing.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also said Sunday that the US had conducted backchannel discussions with Iranian leaders to warn them against escalation.

Safe Zone

In his interview, Biden said his team had been discussing the establishment of a safe zone for Gaza residents, and held talks  with the Egyptian government about assistance in getting women and children out of the conflict zone.

“The Israelis are going to do everything in their power to avoid the killing of innocent civilians,” Biden said.

Biden stressed his belief that Israel needed to respond after the initial attack by Hamas, which killed at least 1,300 people – including 30 Americans – and left thousands more injured. The US president described last week’s attack as being “as consequential as the Holocaust.”

Biden reiterated in the interview that he didn’t see a reason for US troops to intervene directly in the situation, though he pressed lawmakers to provide additional military assistance to Israel and Ukraine. Biden said that dysfunction on Capitol Hill – where House Republicans for over a week have been unable to elect a new speaker to replace Kevin McCarthy – increased danger in the world.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)