Israel and Turkey have finalised a deal to end the six-year diplomatic rift that began when Israeli commandos killed nine Turkish activists aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla in 2010. The agreement, which came after months of negotiations and encouragement by the US, restores full diplomatic ties between the two countries and opens the path for a major natural gas deal.

Israel agreed to pay $20 million in compensation to the families of the dead and wounded activists and in return the families agreed to drop any future claims against the Israeli military. The deal will allow Turkey to build a 200-bed hospital in Gaza and invest in other other infrastructure projects as part of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s policy of casting himself as a champion of the Palestinians.

Turkey also agreed to use its influence with Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, to help recover four Israeli citizens missing in Gaza. The US has been eager to end the rift between its two Middle Eastern allies and President Barack Obama nudged Mr Netanyahu into calling Mr Erdogan from a tent in Ben Gurion airport when the American leader visited Israel in 2013.

Turkey was the first major Muslim country to recognize Israel in 1949 and the two cooperated closely for decades even as Israel fought with Muslim Arab nations.