Turkey is expelling the Israeli ambassador and downgrading diplomatic ties following today's publication of a UN report into last year's Gaza flotilla.

The Palmer Report concluded that Israel's naval blockade of Gaza is legal under international law, and found that Turkey did not do enough to stop the flotilla. It also stated that Israeli commandos acted in self-defence during the clash on the Mavi Marmara ferry in which nine Turkish activists were killed.

The Turkish government rejected the report and blamed the diplomatic crisis on Israel's refusal to apologise for the incident.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced the cancellation of all defence contracts between the two countries, and threatened to initiate a diplomatic and legal campaign against Israel at the United Nations.

Senior Israeli officials noted that their government was pleased with the UN report.