Israel and Turkey have been locked in 11 months of talks over compensation for nine Turkish nationals killed in a deadly Israeli raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla in May 2010, with officials on both sides recently confirming they were close to a deal.
But earlier this week, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said there would be no agreement without a written commitment by Israel to lift its restrictions on the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas, a Palestinian militant group.
"I don't understand Erdogan's behaviour."
On Monday, a Turkish official told AFP the sides were "close to an agreement," but the next day Erdogan told reporters that a written "protocol" was necessary- one which included an Israeli commitment to end the blockade.
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A spokesman for the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to comment on the matter, but press reports said he rejected the idea out of hand.
"Erdogan mentions the Gaza issue every so often, but it was never a formal part of the talks," an Israeli official close to the negotiations told AFP.
Once-close relations between Israel and Turkey fell apart after the 2010 raid on a six-ship flotilla seeking to break the Israeli naval blockade on Gaza.
The assault provoked a major diplomatic crisis between the former regional allies, with Ankara demanding a formal apology, compensation for the families of the victims and an end to the blockade.
Talks finally began in March 2013 after Israel extended a formal apology to Turkey to get relations back on track following a top-level intervention by US President Barack Obama.
Israel first imposed its blockade on Gaza in 2006 when militants there snatched an Israeli soldier. It tightened the restrictions when Hamas- an Islamist movement sworn to Israel's destruction- seized power a year later.