Turkey will impose restrictions on the export of products from 54 different categories to Israel until a ceasefire is declared in Gaza, the Turkish trade ministry has said.

The ministry said the measures would take effect immediately, adding that the restrictions would include iron and steel products and construction equipment, among other things.

“This decision will remain in place until Israel declares a ceasefire immediately and allows adequate and uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” the ministry announced on social media.

The announcement from Ankara comes after Israel denied Turkey’s request to join airdrops of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza on Monday.

Israel did not immediately explain why the request was rejected, with its refusal leading to Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, warning: “There is no excuse for Israel to block our attempt to drop aid to starving Gazans.”

The US started dropping deliveries of aid into Gaza by air in March, with the Netherlands, France, Spain and other countries contributing to the humanitarian effort.

Turkey, which has backed steps to have the Israeli leadership tried for genocide at the World Court, has repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict, which, according to the Gaza health ministry, has seen over 33,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes since 7 October.

Key events

Hamas has said Israel’s proposal that it received from Qatari and Egyptian mediators did not meet any of the demands of Palestinian factions.

But the Palestinian militant group did also say on Tuesday it was considering a new framework for a truce proposed during the latest round of negotiations in Cairo.

The three-part proposal would halt fighting for six weeks to facilitate an exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

Saying it “appreciates” the mediators’ efforts, Hamas on Tuesday accused Israel of not responding to any of its demands during the talks.

“Despite this, the movement’s leadership is studying the submitted proposal,” the militant group said in a statement.

Israel and Hamas sent teams to Egypt on Sunday for talks that included Qatari and Egyptian mediators as well as the CIA director, William Burns.

Israel said it was keen to reach a prisoners-for-hostages deal, by which it would free a number of Palestinians jailed in its prisons in return for the hostages in Gaza, but it wasn’t ready to end the military offensive before it invaded Rafah.

Hamas wants any agreement to secure an end to Israeli military offensive, get Israeli forces out of Gaza and allow the displaced to return to their homes across the territory.

Welcome to our latest live news blog on Israel’s war in Gaza and the wider Middle East crisis. Here’s a rundown on the latest news.

Hamas says Israel’s proposal it received from Qatari and Egyptian mediators in ceasefire negotiations did not meet any of the demands of Palestinian factions.

However, the militant group added in a statement on Tuesday morning that it would study the proposal, which it described as “intransigent”, and deliver its response to the mediators.

A Hamas official told Reuters on Monday that the group had rejected the Israeli ceasefire proposal made at talks in Cairo, the Egyptian capital.

Meanwhile, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said a date had been set for an invasion of Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, without specifying when.

More on that soon. In other developments:

An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed a field commander in the country’s militant Hezbollah group early on Monday, while the UN warned that shelling was spreading and urged a halt to the violence. Hezbollah and the Israeli military have regularly exchanged fire across Lebanon’s southern frontier in parallel with Israel’s war on Gaza.
In the US, sixteen more Democrats have signed a letter urging the US president, Joe Biden, to halt weapons transfers to Israel.
Nicaragua has called on the UN’s top court to halt German military and other aid to Israel, arguing that Berlin’s support is enabling acts of genocide and breaches of international humanitarian law in the war.
Palestinians began returning to the devastated city of Khan Younis on Monday after Israel’s unexpected withdrawal of forces from southern Gaza. Those returning to the city, which has been under a relentless Israeli military assault for the past four months, described scenes of widespread destruction.
Israel is yet to provide a satisfactory explanation for the death of seven aid workers last week, the prime minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, said as it appointed a senior former military official to study Israel’s inquiry into the attack. Israel said on Friday its soldiers mistakenly believed they were attacking Hamas gunmen. Two officers were dismissed and others reprimanded.
Lebanon’s prime minister, Najib Mikati, and the visiting Cypriot president, Nikos Christodoulides, discussed the Syrian refugee crisis on Monday, Beirut said, as Nicosia pushes Lebanese authorities to stem boat departures.
The commander of a European Union naval mission in the Red Sea wants to significantly increase its size to better defend against possible attacks by Houthi rebels based in Yemen, as just four warships are patrolling an area twice the size of the 27-nation bloc. The EU mission – dubbed Aspides, from the Greek for “shield” – has escorted 68 ships and repelled 11 attacks since it was established less than two months ago.
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, left Oman to visit Syria’s capital of Damascus a week after Iran’s consulate there was targeted in a suspected Israeli attack, state media has reported. Iran has vowed to avenge the death of seven of its Revolutionary Guards commanders killed in the attack.