The Israeli Broadcasting Authority reveals details of a meeting between Gantz and the families of Israeli prisoners with the Prime Minister of Qatar in Paris

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that the head of the Israeli “State Camp” party, Benny Gantz, and the families of prisoners held in the Gaza Strip met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in the French capital, Paris, on Tuesday.

The meeting comes at a time when accusations are mounting within Israel against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of obstructing reaching an agreement with Hamas for a prisoner exchange.

The Broadcasting Authority said, in a breaking news report on X, “Benny Gantz and the families of the kidnapped (Israeli prisoners in Gaza) met with the Prime Minister of Qatar in Paris on Tuesday,” without giving further details.

Israel holds at least 9,500 Palestinian prisoners in its prisons, and estimates that there are 101 prisoners in Gaza, while Hamas announced the killing of dozens of prisoners in random Israeli raids.

For its part, the Israeli Maariv newspaper reported that the meeting was also attended by the head of the World Jewish Congress, Ron Lauder.

Maariv considered that Gantz, the minister who resigned from the War Council, bypassed Netanyahu by holding this meeting.

With the mediation of Qatar and Egypt, and the support of the United States, Israel and Hamas have been conducting faltering indirect negotiations for months, while a devastating Israeli war on Gaza continues for the eleventh month.

Gantz currently doesn’t hold any political position in Israel, and resigned last June from the war council that was formed after the outbreak of the war in Gaza on October 7.

Gantz, who observers consider the most prominent candidate to lead the next government, justified his resignation by saying that political considerations in Netanyahu’s government are obstructing strategic decisions in the Gaza war.

Gantz supports the current proposed deal, saying on X on Monday that “the deal on the table has broad support in the Knesset and among the Israeli public,” and that he is prepared to give Netanyahu “a political safety net to implement it”.

Netanyahu insists on continuing to occupy the Netzarim Corridor, which divides the Gaza Strip into north and south, the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor on the border with Egypt, while Hamas insists on a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army.

Security officials, the opposition and prisoners’ families have accused Netanyahu for months of obstructing a deal with Hamas, fearing the collapse of his ruling coalition and the loss of his position, and are demanding that he resign.

Far-right ministers, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, are threatening to withdraw from the government and bring it down if it accepts an agreement to end the war.