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Israel and Turkey reach preliminary deal to restore ties

The deal will see Israel compensate families of those killed while Turkey will drop all claims against Israel, the unnamed official said.

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Turkish diplomatic sources, quoted by the state-run Anatolia news agency, said negotiations between Israel and Turkey on a normalisation of ties were in progress.

Turkish-Israeli relations may be on the verge of a dramatic improvement after years of disconnect, following a secret meeting Wednesday in Switzerland between senior Turkish and Israeli officials. After the incident, Turkey to cut off relations.

The agreement, media also report, provides for a fourth point – the expulsion by Turkey of Saleh al-Aruri, a high-level member of the military wing of Hamas based in Istanbul from where he directs “terror operatives” in the West Bank.

Herzog added that Jerusalem’s relations with Ankara should be strengthened in other spheres and that any deal “must not give [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan a foothold in Gaza”.

A group of six civilian ships set sail for Gaza from Cyprus with the goal of breaking Israel’s blockade on the strip of Palestinian territory.

Israeli Navy vessels escort the Mavi Marmara to the port of Ashdod, May 31, 2010.

While the clashes are not anti-American “in nature”, the warning continues, politically motivated violence in metropolitan areas has killed or injured at least 12 US citizens in 2014 and 2015.

Israel and Turkey will soon begin discussions about a natural gas pipeline between the countries as well as the sale of natural gas from Israel to Turkey, according to the officials. Turkey withdrew its ambassador to Israel and later expelled Israel’s ambassador to Turkey. In the call, which Turkey’s foreign minister said lasted almost 30 minutes, Netanyahu acknowledged “operational mistakes” during the raid.

Earlier this week, Erdogan had signaled a possible warming of relations with Israel, saying in published comments that the entire region would benefit from the normalization of ties.

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Tension between the countries, already high, escalated further, and Erdogan, then the prime minister, recalled his ambassador.

Palestinian Authority must survive