"[Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, the dictator who dreams of being a sultan, works for Hamas, violates agreements and wants to harm Israel, but in fact harms the Palestinians he pretends to help," the Israeli government said in a statement. In addition to taking steps to cut economic and commercial ties with the Palestinian territories, Israel will appeal to international economic forums to consider imposing sanctions on Turkey for violating trade agreements. The country will also seek to find immediate alternatives to Turkish products and offer assistance to affected Israeli sectors. "We will not give in to Erdogan's blackmail and threats. The Israeli economy is stronger than a dictator like Erdogan, who violates agreements and works for Hamas. I have ordered the reduction of all economic ties between Erdogan and the Palestinian Authority and between Gaza," Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz insisted in the note. Erdogan confirmed today that Turkey has "closed the door" to trade with Israel due to the "cruelty" of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Gaza war, a decision announced on Thursday night by the Turkish Ministry of Commerce. "We have taken certain measures to force Israel to accept a ceasefire and to increase the volume of humanitarian aid entering [Gaza]," the President told businessmen in Istanbul. "We will monitor the consequences of the measures we have taken in cooperation [...] with our business communities," added the Turkish President. Erdogan recalled that a few weeks before the Hamas attacks on October 7, which were followed by Israel's offensive in Gaza, he had met with Netanyahu in the United States "to show that Turkey and Israel could take several steps" in their bilateral relationship, fully restored in 2022 after years of tensions. "Unfortunately, Netanyahu reacted cruelly against children, women and the elderly. They can't do anything. The whole West works with Israel. In view of this, we could not stand it any longer and we took action," said Erdogan. On April 9, Turkey banned the export of a wide range of goods to Israel, including steel, concrete and other materials that made up the bulk of bilateral trade, as a pressure measure to speed up the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. In 2022, Israel was Turkey's tenth largest customer, importing almost 7 billion dollars (6.5 billion euros) in Turkish products, mainly in the metals, steel, cement, automobile and electronics sectors, and exporting around 2.4 billion dollars (2.23 billion euros) in products. Israel and Turkey cut diplomatic relations last October and withdrew their ambassadors, but trade continued uninterrupted and even increased, according to the Turkish Exporters' Association (TIM). According to TIM data, cited by the daily Birgün, the volume of Turkish exports to Israel increased from 317 million dollars (295 million euros) in January to 423 million dollars (393 million euros) in March, for a total of 1.1 billion dollars (1.022 billion euros) in the first quarter. Read Also: EU classifies attack on humanitarian convoy in Gaza as "despicable" (Portuguese version)