Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday announced a reconciliation deal with Turkey to bring stability to the region.
The prime minister said that the two sides were discussing exchanging ambassadors after a six-year diplomatic rift.
Netanyahu and a delegation of aides were in Rome, where Netanyahu met with the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday and Monday.
In Israel, critics were quick to slam the deal.
Israel and Turkey have reached a deal to normalise diplomatic ties, officials in both countries said six years after an acrimonious rupture between the historic allies.
The relationship went into a tailspin in 2010, when Israeli naval commandos raided an aid flotilla on the Mediterranean Sea as it headed to the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Nine Turkish nationals were killed in the incident on the ship Mavi Marmara.
Under the deal finalised at the weekend in Rome, Israel met Turkey’s demand to compensate the families of Turkish victims by contributing 20 million dollars to a victims’ fund.
Ankara in turn, will drop criminal charges against Israeli soldiers involved in the Mavi Marmara affair.
Turkey will also be allowed to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and invest in infrastructure projects there.
Gaza is controlled by the Islamist Hamas movement, which calls for the destruction of Israel.
“Along with new residential buildings, we will complete the construction of a 200-bed hospital in Gaza,” a Turkish official said on condition of anonymity.
In addition to the hospital, Turkey was also given the go-ahead to construct a new power plant and projects to tackle Gaza’s water crisis.
Turkey would launch industrial projects in the West Bank as well, officials said.
“The agreement represents a diplomatic victory for Turkey, which assumed a principled and determined stance after the Mavi Marmara attack,” said the Turkish official.
A former Minister, Gideon Sahar, tweeted that it was a “national humiliation” that Israel was reportedly agreeing to pay millions into a compensation fund for the families of the nine Turkish nationals killed.
However, Netanyahu supporters praised the deal for succeeding in getting Turkey to withdraw lawsuits against the Israeli soldiers at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
After Mavi Marmara, among other measures, Turkey recalled its ambassador to Israel and scaled back military cooperation with its key non-Arab partner in the Middle East.
Both countries are U.S. allies, and Washington has been keen to see the governments reconcile.
In 2013, Netanyahu under pressure from Washington, expressed regret for the loss of life on the aid flotilla.
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