The Mavi Marmara

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The diplomatic ice was broken by an agreement to send two Turkish firefighting aircraft to help fight the huge wildfire burning north of Haifa.

Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to thank him - the first contact between the two since May.

However, Mr Erdogan later insisted the firefighting assistance was solely a humanitarian gesture.

"No-one can expect us to be silent, to abandon justice until the blood spilled in the Mediterranean is cleaned. Now some are coming out and saying: 'Let's begin a new phase.' Before that, our demands must be met.

"Our nine brothers martyred on the Mavi Marmara must be accounted for. First an apology must be made and compensation must be paid."

The United States has been pressing both countries to resolve their differences, but without any success until now.

Our correspondent says it could still take many more meetings to close the gap between their positions - even then, Turkish officials warn, the two countries will not be able to return to the levels of military and intelligence co-operation they had a decade ago.

Israel believes this is due to anti-Israeli prejudices within the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey; Turkey says it is Israel's policies in Gaza, and Turkey's ambitions in the wider Middle East, that make the restoration of their former partnership impossible, he adds.

Source: BBC News