Netanyahu says Turkey deal immense for Israel economy

A deal to normalize relations with Turkey after six years will have a positive impact on Israel's economy, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.

Speaking at a joint press briefing after meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Rome, Netanyahu said the agreement, reached on Sunday after long negotiation, was "an important step."

"It has also immense implications for the Israeli economy, and I use that word advisedly," he told reporters together with Kerry.

Israeli officials have raised the prospect of lucrative Mediterranean gas deals once ties with Turkey are mended.

Kerry welcomed the agreement, saying, "We are obviously pleased in the administration. This is a step we wanted to see happen."

Turkey and Israel reached a reconciliation agreement late Sunday to normalize relations more than six years after Israeli troops stormed a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in international waters.

Ties between Ankara and Tel Aviv have been frayed since 2010, when six civilian ships in a humanitarian aid flotilla were attacked in international waters by Israeli forces.

The vessels were trying to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Nine Turkish citizens and an American were killed and 30 other people injured; one person died nearly four years after being critically injured in the attack.

Turkey demanded an official apology from Israel, compensation for the families of those killed in the attack, and the removal of Israel's blockade on Gaza in the aftermath of the attack.

In 2013, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to then-Turkish Prime Minister and now President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for the attack.

In recent months, the two countries have been engaged in talks aiming at normalizing ties.

A senior Turkish official said Monday that Israel accepted a number of requests from the Turkish side, including Israeli compensation for families of those killed in the Mavi Marmara flotilla raid and Turkey's humanitarian presence in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Under the deal, Turkey will be able to send humanitarian aid to Gaza as well as implement infrastructure projects, including residential buildings and a 200-bed Turkish-Palestine Friendship Hospital in the area, the senior official said.

"However, contrary to claims, the deal has no provision regarding Hamas," the official added.

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırim is due to make a statement Monday on progress in negotiations with Israel, sources at the Prime Ministry said.