After nearly four years, Israel has offered Turkey $20 million as compensation to families of those individuals who were killed in Israel's 2010 raid on the flotilla that was delivering humanitarian aid supplies to Gaza, according to Agence France Presse.
Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported that Turkey still has "yet to respond" to Tel Aviv's offer.
According to anonymous Western diplomat informants, Ankara had demanded $30 million, with Israel only willing to initially give $15 million. The Prime Minister's office later settled for $20 million, with an extra $3 million available "if necessary to secure an agreement."
The funds will not actually go to the families as well, according to the report. Rather, they will be deposited in a humanitarian fund and then distributed to the families "in accordance with defined criteria."
Netanyahu's office has allegedly refused to comment on the report.
The 2010 Gaza flotilla incident has left a major stain on Israeli-Turkish relations after Israeli defense forces killed nine Turkish nationals aboard the ship that was delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza. Ankara has been demanding a formal apology and compensation for the families victims since the incident, with Israel only issuing a formal apology in early 2013.
Talks between Israel and Turkey have been in process since March 2013, with a brief stall for several months before they were revived last December after Israeli negotiators visited Istanbul and Ankara "lowered its demands for compensation," according to the Haaretz report.
