Israeli opposition politician Benny Gantz has promised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu his support if Israeli negotiators agree to a ceasefire and hostage exchange in indirect talks with Hamas in the coming weeks.
His centrist National Unity party will back any reasonable agreement that leads to the return of the hostages abducted by Hamas, Gantz said in a telephone conversation with Netanyahu, according to his office.
The talks, which the US, Egypt and Qatar are mediating, have been at a standstill for a long time. However, a new round is due to start in the Qatari capital Doha in the next few days, after Hamas signalled flexibility on some points of a proposal supported by Israel.
Hamas wants an end to the war and to release the hostages in exchange for a large number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli detention.
There are fears in Israel that Netanyahu will reject a deal, as he did in earlier phases of the negotiations, because he has to appease his ultra-religious and far-right coalition partners.
They are resisting possible concessions - such as an end to the Gaza war before the complete destruction of Hamas - and are threatening to leave the coalition.
Together with other moderate politicians, Gantz was a part of the war cabinet that was formed after the unprecedented Hamas massacre on October 7 last year. They left the war cabinet in June, saying Netanyahu had failed to come up with a post-war strategy for Gaza.
During the attack on southern Israel, terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups killed 1,200 people and took a further 250 hostage in the Gaza Strip. Israel believes that around 120 hostages are still there, but many of them are probably no longer alive.
