Gaza sea blockade to remain after Turkey deal, claim Zionists

In this Dec. 26, 2010 file photo, backdropped by the historical Galata Tower, the Mavi Marmara ship, the lead boat of a flotilla headed to the Gaza Strip which was stormed by Israeli naval commandos in a predawn confrontation in the Mediterranean May 31, 2010, returns in Istanbul. (AP)

ANKARA/JERUSALEM: Israel and Turkey announced on Monday they would normalize ties after a six-year rupture, a rare rapprochement in the divided Middle East driven by the prospect of lucrative Mediterranean gas deals as well as mutual fears over growing security risks.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the two countries would exchange ambassadors as soon as possible.
The mending in relations between the once-firm allies after years of negotiations raises the prospect of eventual cooperation to exploit natural gas reserves worth hundreds of billions of dollars under the eastern Mediterranean, officials have said.
Relations between Israel and what was once its only Muslim ally crumbled after Israeli marines stormed an aid ship in May 2010 to enforce a naval blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and killed 10 Turkish activists on board.
US Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the deal, saying, “We are obviously pleased in the administration. This is a step we wanted to see happen.”
Netanyahu made clear the naval blockade of Gaza, which Ankara had wanted lifted under the deal, would remain in force, although humanitarian aid could continue to be transferred to Gaza via Israeli ports.
But Yildirim said the “wholesale” blockade of Gaza was largely lifted under the deal, enabling Turkey to deliver humanitarian aid and other non-military products. A first shipment of 10,000 tons would be sent next Friday, he said, and work would begin immediately to tackle Gaza’s water and power supply crisis.
“Our Palestinian brothers in Gaza have suffered a lot and we have made it possible for them to take a breath with this agreement,” Yildirim told a news conference in Ankara.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas by phone on Sunday night and told him the deal would improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, sources in his office said.
Israel, which had already offered its apologies for the 2010 raid on the Mavi Marmara activist ship — one of Ankara’s three conditions for a deal — agreed to pay out $20 million to the bereaved and injured. The deal requires Turkey pass legislation protecting Israeli soldiers against related lawsuits.