Despite Ankara’s announcement last year that it was halting trade with Israel over its ongoing war on Gaza, maritime traffic between the two countries has continued largely unabated, according to shipping records reviewed by Turkish media.
In May 2024 Turkey halted all direct trade with Israel in response to growing domestic criticism of Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
However, the Turkish government has faced protests and accusations for allegedly continuing trade with Israel while adopting a harsh anti-Israel rhetoric, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan repeatedly accusing Israel of “genocidal behavior” and comparing the actions of the administration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to those seen in Nazi Germany.
Between January and September 2025, a total of 456 commercial voyages were made from Turkish ports to Israel, with 302 docking in Haifa and 154 in Ashdod, the BirGün daily reported on Tuesday.
Much of the traffic originated in major export hubs along Turkey’s eastern Mediterranean coast. İskenderun led with 130 voyages, followed by Mersin with 103 and Aliağa’s Nemrut terminal in İzmir with 80. Another 45 vessels departed from the industrial ports clustered around the Gulf of İzmit in Kocaeli, a hub for metals and chemicals.
The breakdown of ship types reflects the diversity of trade: 176 container ships, 118 general cargo vessels, 79 Ro-Ro carriers, 35 bulk carriers and 30 tankers. Container and general cargo ships together accounted for nearly two-thirds of all traffic.
Many vessels were registered under so-called “flags of convenience,” a global practice allowing shipowners to obscure ownership and avoid restrictions. Of the voyages recorded, 110 sailed under Panama’s flag, 98 under Liberia’s and others under Marshall Islands and Cameroon registries. At least eight Turkish-flagged vessels also made direct calls to Israeli ports.
Concrete examples show how Turkish-owned ships remain active on the route.
According to the Sol newspaper, the Şahin 2, owned by RS Shipping and operated by Baba Shipping, departed İzmir’s Nemrut Port under a Vanuatu flag on September 2 and reached Ashdod a month later. Another vessel, the Bozkurt, flying a Liberian flag, left Fethiye on September 9 and arrived in Ashdod on September 27. The ship, registered in the Marshall Islands, is operated by İstanbul-based Kamer Marine. Similar arrangements have been reported with ships such as the Navin Harrier and Benigane.
Turkish-owned ships operated by companies like Deval — which Ankara previously insisted were conducting trade “on behalf of Palestine” — were also observed in Haifa and Ashdod, BirGün said.
Analysts note that such voyages do not always amount to direct bilateral trade, as ships often load goods in multiple ports before delivering them across the region. Still, the figures are interpreted as the persistence of Turkey-Israel commercial ties despite political tensions.
Before the Gaza conflict, bilateral trade between Turkey and Israel totaled nearly $7 billion annually, making Israel one of Ankara’s key economic partners in the eastern Mediterranean.
Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza following a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 that resulted in the death of 1,206 people and the taking of some 250 hostages.
According to the health ministry in Gaza, the Israeli military has killed at least 67,000 Palestinians including 20,000 children and wounded more than 169,000 since October 7, 2023.