'Israel' appoints ambassador to Turkey as ties warm up

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The Israeli occupation appointed its charge d'affaires in Ankara, Irit Lillian, as its ambassador to Turkey after the two fully restored their diplomatic ties last month, Israeli media reported on Monday.

The Israeli foreign ministry approved earlier today Lillian's appointment as its ambassador to Turkey following years of strained ties.

The ambassador served as the occupation's charge d'affaires for the past two years under highly deteriorating ties.

Relations between Ankara and "Tel Aviv" had reached their lowest level after Israeli occupation commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara ship that was carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip in 2010, which led to the deaths of nine Turks.

After a reconciliation deal in 2016, tensions escalated again between the two sides when both exchanged withdrawing ambassadors in 2018 over the IOF killing Palestinian protesters in Gaza, and after the US moved its embassy to occupied Al-Quds.

However, in recent months, Israeli-Turkish relations have been warming up. In March, Israeli occupation President Isaac Herzog visited Ankara and met his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In August, Turkey and "Israel" agreed to mutually reappoint ambassadors and restore full diplomatic ties.

Marking another step in the rapprochement between the two parties, a Turkish warship docked in early September in the Haifa port in occupied Palestine as part of a mission for NATO forces in the region, for the first time in 12 years.

The Israeli KAN channel reported that the Turkish frigate TCG Kemalreis (F-247), accompanied by the USS Forrest Sherman, an American-guided missile destroyer arrived at the Haifa port as part of a NATO patrol.