Turkey’s decision to suspend trade with Israel underscores the rising global pressure to wind down the war in Gaza, even as Israel’s leaders insist that they will not end the campaign until Hamas’s rule in the enclave has been eradicated.
Israel’s international isolation has mounted as its devastating military offensive in Gaza continues with little end in sight. Some countries have downgraded or cut ties with Israel. Close partners such as the United States, Britain and Germany, while still remaining strongly supportive of Israel, have become more openly critical of its conduct and of restrictions on humanitarian aid to Gaza.
On Wednesday, Colombia became the latest Latin American country to break ties with Israel, following Bolivia and Belize early in the war. Arab states like Jordan and Bahrain, with whom Israel cooperates closely on security, recalled their ambassadors amid public outcry over the rising death toll.
The Biden administration, Israel’s most important ally, has shown no sign of pulling back military support, even as it warns against an Israeli invasion of Rafah, in southern Gaza, where more than a million people are sheltering. And Israel won a reprieve this week when a United Nations court declined to order Germany, Israel’s second-biggest supplier of weapons, after the United States, to suspend those arms sales.
Still, the moves by Turkey and others highlight how the war in Gaza, now nearly seven months old, is exacting a growing toll on Israel’s global standing.
Israel and Turkey had enjoyed a rapprochement in recent years — in 2022, the two countries announced that they would restore full diplomatic ties — but hopes for warmer relations appear to have been dashed by the war. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has also expressed support for Hamas and met with its top leaders in late April, drawing Israel’s ire.
Many of Israel’s allies are now calling for a cease-fire. In March, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The war has also prompted renewed calls by some countries to recognize a Palestinian state, a move that is largely symbolic but strongly opposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. Spain and Ireland, among other European nations, have said that they are working toward recognizing a state of Palestine.
Washington has long said that while it backs the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state, any recognition should come after negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
The shifting tone reflects the war’s tremendous cost for Palestinians. Over the past seven months, the war has killed more than 34,000 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to local health officials. Israel’s offensive followed the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7 that left 1,200 dead and another 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.
