For the first time since 2010, an official delegation from Turkey visits Israel on Monday, a new sign of a thaw in the relations between the two countries.

The delegation is to meet with Israeli Deputy Regional Cooperation Minister Ayoub Kara to advance the development of a local industrial zone that is expected to be built at the Gilboa Crossing next to Jenin.

Relations between Turkey and Israel have been strained since the Marmara ship, which claimed to be providing "humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza," defied orders to turn around and dock at the Ashdod port. After it ignored repeated warnings to change course, the Israeli army boarded the vessel - only to be attacked by Islamist extremists on board.

The soldiers had no choice but to open fire, resulting in the deaths of nine of the activists on board. After an investigation, Israeli authorities discovered the vessel to be carrying no humanitarian aid at all.

The activists on board refused. Nine activists were killed and seven IDF soldiers were wounded in violence that erupted after Israeli troops boarded the vessel. A tenth activist died of his wounds in 2014, after having been hospitalized for four years in a coma.

The incident riggered a major diplomatic crisis between Ankara and Jerusalem.

Ankara expelled the Israeli ambassador, demanded a formal apology and Financial compensation and an end to the naval blockade on the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas.

When Jérusalem refused Turkey’s demand that it apologize for the incident and compensate the victims’ families, Turkey cut ties with Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu later apologized to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then Prime Minister of Turkey who has since been elected President, over the Marmara incident at the urging of the United States, and the sides were supposed to enter talks on compensation for the victims, but those seem to have stalled.

Recently, however, bilateral trade between the two countries has continued, and signs of a possible renewal of ties grew over the weekend with the appointment of a new Turkish Foreign Minister.

The new minister, Feridun Sinirlioglu, served as Turkey’s ambassador to Israel for five years between 2002 and 2007, during which the diplomatic ties between the two countries flourished.

Sinirlioglu’s appointment is a temporary one for just two months until new elections are held in Turkey, but it is one which could perhaps be a catalyst to a renewal of ties.

Israel’s foreign ministry director-general Dore Gold said last week that he was “hopeful that in the not too distant future Israel and Turkey will find a way to reestablish their relationship.”

Gold, who held secret talks in Rome in June with his Turkish counterpart told The Jerusalem Post that regional developments and challenges are compelling Ankara to make some changes of its own.

“The strategic environment around Turkey is much more complicated than it was two or three years ago, with the rise of ISIS as a challenge to Turkey, not just Syria, and the growth of Iranian power, which is not just a problem for Israel, but for Turkey as well,” Gold said.