Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday criticized the charity group that organized the 2010 Gaza-bound flotilla, which was raided by Israeli commandos and led to a six-year diplomatic rift between Ankara and Jerusalem.
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However, in the Gaza Strip where about 1.8 million Palestinians have been under a crippling Israeli blockade for years, resident Khaled Nimer said the Turkish deal with Israel is “unfair” toward the Palestinian people.
Turkey can deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, but shipments must stop through Ashdod for Israel’s approval first.
A senior Israeli official said senior foreign ministry diplomats from both countries would separately sign parallel agreements on Tuesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that his nation’s agreement with Turkey to normalize ties will have “immense” implications for the Israeli economy.
Ankara, in turn, will drop criminal charges against Israeli soldiers involved in the Mavi Marmara affair.
But there have been objections over Israel agreeing to pay $20 million in compensation to families of the Turkish activists killed in the raid. “If I were standing toe to toe with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on an global podium, who do you think would get the applause?” Before 2010, Turkey had been one of Israel’s most important allies in the Middle East.
The deal, he added, “will also protect [Israeli] military personnel now and in the future by ensuring that Turkey doesn’t file lawsuits against them” for their roles in the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident.
Two years ago, however, Hamas announced that it would “punish” Israel by banning fruit imports from Israel into Gaza.
Netanyahu said the reopening of relations with Turkey is of “strategic importance”.
Reports in recent days described a compromise on the issue.
Under the reported terms of the deal, Israel will allow the completion of a much-needed hospital in Gaza, as well as the construction of a new power station and a desalination plant for drinking water by Turkey.
Following a discussion of more than four hours, the Security Cabinet voted 7-3 to approve the deal, with Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked dissenting.
Hamas denied on Monday that any talks about the release of Israeli soldiers captured in the Gaza Strip had taken place, Spokesman Ismail Ridwan said.
Netanyahu said an Israeli ambassador will be sent to Turkey, and a Turkish counterpart to Israel, “as soon as possible”.
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The Kremlin statement said Mr Erdogan had expressed his readiness to do everything necessary to restore the traditionally friendly relations between Turkey and Russian Federation, and also to jointly fight terrorism.
