The ongoing conflict in Gaza has drawn in numerous foreign actors and impacted trade, leading to proposed trade sanctions against parties like Israel (such as Turkey’s trade ban), Iran, and Palestinian groups. As several of those parties are WTO members, they might challenge the restrictions under WTO law. In turn, the respondents would invoke the ‘security exception’ in Article XXI of the GATT 1994. This provision allows a state to bypass WTO obligations and take measures “which it considers necessary” to protect its security interests during wars and international emergencies. The WTO’s handling of the Russia-Ukraine transit dispute – the only WTO case to extensively explore this exception to date – highlights the challenges in interpreting it. This blogpost considers the WTO Panel’s approach and its potential implications for adjudicating security exceptions in Middle Eastern conflicts.