Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Photo: World Economic Forum.

JNS.org – Turkey has agreed to accept a lower compensation amount from Israel for the Turkish citizens killed in the 2010 Gaza flotilla incident, a senior Israeli official said.

The Mavi Marmara was a Turkish ship that sailed to Israel in an attempt to break the Jewish state’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. After militants attacked Israeli soldiers as they boarded, the soldiers fatally shot nine Turkish citizens on the ship. Before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over the phone in March, relations had soured between the two countries.

Earlier in December, Turkey and Israel resumed negotiations on compensation for the flotilla victims in Istanbul, according to Haaretz. Turkey had been demanding $1 million for the family of each victim, but has since made a lower offer.

“The agreement is ready; all that’s left is to fill in the blank with a number. There are still differences regarding the amounts, but they have narrowed,” the senior Israeli official said. “There is a will on both sides to wrap things up as soon as possible and normalize relations,” he said.