BREAKING NEWS

Shas, Netanyahu's biggest coalition partner, backs Gaza hostage deal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's biggest coalition partner Shas said on Tuesday it would lend "full support" for a prospective deal to free hostages from Hamas captivity even if that would entails "far-reaching steps" in the Gaza war strategy.

The statement by Shas, an ultra-Orthodox party that wields 11 of the Knesset's 120 seats, followed open opposition to such a deal by two far-right coalition partners.