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Israel, Turkey to sign up for reconciliation to spur mending of ties

Xinhua, June 27, 2016 Adjust font size:

Israel and Turkey will announce on Monday a reconciliation agreement reached following six years of diplomatic detente, reported Israeli media on Sunday.

Israeli and Turkish negotiation teams met for last-minute talks in Rome on Sunday, after months of intense negotiations.

According to local media reports citing Israeli and Turkish officials, negotiations substantially progressed ten days ago.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to arrive in Rome on Sunday to meet with U.S. Secretary John Kerry, and it is believed he will announce the reconciliation agreement Monday, reported the Ha'aretz daily on Sunday.

Netanyahu will also reveal the complete agreement text which ended six years of hostility between both countries, said the Ha'aretz daily, adding that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will also deliver a statement simultaneously in Turkey.

Reports published last week by Turkish and Israeli media outlets estimated that the reconciliation agreement will be announced on Sunday.

If a deal has in fact been reached, it will be brought forward for approval by Israel's security cabinet, a forum of ministers responsible for security and diplomatic affairs' decisions on Wednesday.

A unanimous approval of the deal by the cabinet is anticipated.

Relations between Israel and Turkey soured following a deadly 2010 raid by an Israeli naval ship against a Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara.

The Mavi Marmara was part of a flotilla headed to the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip demanding the lifting of the Israeli blockade from it.

The incident killed 10 Turkish nationals.

According to the agreement, Israel will fund 20 million U.S. dollars in compensation for the victims' families.

The agreement will also enable Turkey to undertake infrastructure projects in the Gaza Strip, reported the Ynet news website. There are talks on installing Turkish natural gas pipelines through Israeli territory.

As for Turkey, it relinquished its demand to remove the Israeli blockade from the Gaza Strip, and will bar judicial prosecution against Israeli soldiers and officers.

Turkish officials also committed to ban the Islamic militant Hamas movement from carrying out or planning terrorist or military attacks against Israel from its territory, Ynet reported.

Under these terms, both countries will normalize their diplomatic relations and reinstate their respective embassies.

The deal angered families of missing Israeli civilians who, according to Israel, are being held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in addition to two dead soldiers' remains also held by Hamas, killed during the 2014 Israeli military campaign against Gaza.

In an attempt to allay the criticism, Netanyahu addressed the issue during his weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, promising that "we will neither rest nor be silent until we bring the boys back home." Endit