As part of the accord, Israel will pay Turkey $20 million to compensate for the deaths of 10 citizens killed in Israel’s 2010 raid on the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship that tried to breach the Israeli blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
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It is unlikely Turkey will succeed in this mission for Hamas is using the bodies as a bargaining chip and not to reward Turkey for signing an agreement to renew diplomatic relations with Israel.
“The deal has enormous consequences for Israel and Turkey both economically and strategically”, said Eli Shaked, Israel’s former consul general in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city. Turkish publication Hurriyet Daily News gives the time of this event as 1 p.m.
“And I mean positive, huge implications”, he said.
Close ties between Turkey and Israel were broken after a Gaza-bound aid ship, the Mavi Marmara, was stormed by Israeli troops in May 2010.
Additionally, the two countries will also rebuild military and intelligence ties, and send ambassadors back to each other’s capitals.
Despite the tense relations, Israeli tourists have surprisingly considered Turkey as holiday destination, the number nearly tripling between 2011 and 2015, according to official data. However, the main hurdle to the agreement is reported to be the lifting of Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip.
The talks to restore ties, ongoing for months, have been accompanied by a change in tone from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
However, he told a press conference in Rome that an Israeli naval blockade of Gaza will remain in force, but added that humanitarian aid could continue to reach Gaza through Israeli ports. “Once again Mr. Security strengthens the radicals and weakens Israel”.
Under the deal, Turkey will deliver humanitarian aid and other non-military products to Gaza.
The move toward rapprochement comes amid Turkey’s deepening isolation in the region, following a deterioration of ties with Russian Federation and Egypt as well as the turmoil in neighboring Syria.
Israel will reportedly allow Turkey to help with the completion of a hospital in the Palestinian enclave and the construction of a new power station as well as a plant for desalination of water. There has been talk of building a pipeline to Turkey. “This matter could not have been advanced without this agreement, and now we will take action to advance it”, Netanyahu said.
A 2011 report commissioned by United Nations secretary-general Ban ki-Moon upheld the legality of the Gaza blockade, which Israel says is needed to stem Hamas arms smuggling.
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There have been three wars between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza since 2008, including a devastating 50-day conflict in the summer of 2014.
