Israel made it clear to Turkey that there would be no thaw in relations until the Hamas office in Istanbul is closed, Ynet reported.  Israel made this a precondition for the return of its ambassador to Ankara.

The country has said it will not normalize its relations with Ankara until it closes the Hamas office, which effectively acts as a military wing, political sources in Tel Aviv told Ynet.

Relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv have been strained for more than a decade since the 2010 incident when Israeli soldiers captured the Freedom Flotilla heading for the Gaza Strip in an attempt to break the blockade against it.

Both countries recalled their ambassadors respectively in 2018. The political crisis did not affect economic, trade, and tourism ties. The volume of trade between the countries exceeds $ 6 billion.