An Israeli cabinet minister on Friday described as "grave and serious" a threat by Ankara to send warships to escort any aid vessels trying to reach Gaza in defiance of Israel's naval blockade.

Israel and Turkey have been locked in a bitter dispute since May 2010 when Israeli naval commandos stormed the international Freedom Flotilla, a convoy of six ships trying to reach Gaza, killing nine Turkish nationals.

The crisis has deepened over the past week with Turkey expelling the Israeli ambassador and axing military ties and defence trade.

And on Thursday night, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed that Turkish warships would escort any aid ships trying to reach Gaza.

"These remarks are grave and serious," Intelligence Services Minister Dan Meridor told army radio, while indicating that Israel had "no wish to add to the polemic."

"It is better to stay quiet and wait. We have no interest in aggravating the situation by replying to such (verbal) attacks."

A statement from Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the Israeli prime minister and his cabinet had discussed "various theoretical options in the event of escalation" but had made no decisions.

"The decision on this will be taken only if and when necessary," it said. "Israel acts and will act responsibly and hopes that Turkey will also act in the same way."

Speaking to Al-Jazeera television in Turkish, Erdogan said Ankara would dispatch warships to protect any Turkish aid ships seeking to reach the Palestinian enclave in defiance of Israel's naval blockade.

"Turkish warships will be tasked with protecting the Turkish boats bringing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip," he said in remarks which were translated into Arabic.

"From now on, we will no longer allow these boats to be the targets of attacks by Israel, like the one on the Freedom Flotilla, because then Israel will have to deal with an appropriate response," he warned.

A senior Israeli official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, called Erdogan's remarks "a very grave provocation" although he said it was unlikely that he would actually make good on his threats.

"It is very difficult to imagine that Turkey would go so far as to take such action, given its commitments to NATO," he said.

Meridor said Ankara "would be violating international law" if it tried by force to break the Israeli blockade, which a UN report into the flotilla incident declared to be legal.

But Alon Liel, a former Israeli ambassador to Turkey and expert on relations between the countries, said Erdogan's words should not be taken lightly.

"This warning should be taken more seriously than a hypothetical expression of support for any Gaza-bound flotilla, taking into account Turkish interests in the region," Liel told AFP.

"Such an action would involve additional complications with Cyprus and Greece," he said.

The most recent crisis between the two nations came last week following the release of the long-awaited UN report into the flotilla incident.

It concluded that Israel's naval blockade was valid under international law and that it had the legal right to stop Gaza-bound ships in international waters, a decision which deeply angered both Turkey and the Palestinians.

But it also said Israeli troops used "excessive and unreasonable" force in stopping the vessels and said the loss of life was unacceptable.

Hours after it was published, Ankara expelled the Israeli ambassador and suspended all military ties, while on Tuesday it also cut defence-related trade in protest over Israel's refusal to apologise.

Israel says its troops fired in self-defence after they were attacked by activists on the deck of the Mavi Marmara, the Turkish ferry leading the flotilla, but Ankara has insisted on an apology for the bloodshed.

The ensuing diplomatic row has strained their once-close relations to breaking point.

Erdogan has threatened to visit Gaza through neighbouring Egypt. Such a visit to the Palestinian territory governed by the radical Islamic Hamas would be bound to further infuriate Israel.

But sources close to his office said on Friday that he had no plans for the time being to add the enclave to his "Arab Spring" tour scheduled to begin on Monday.

"What we have in our programme is a trip to Egypt, Tunisia and Libya," a source told AFP.

"A trip to Gaza is not currently on our agenda as Turkey does not want to put the new Egyptian administration in difficulty," a Turkish diplomat said.

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