Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Benny Gantz reportedly agreed Wednesday to form an emergency unity government and a war Cabinet.
Earlier, the two leaders met Wednesday and were "finalizing the details," Gantz's office said in a statement without elaborating.
Israeli media said their meeting aimed to agree on bringing Gantz's centrist National Unity party into Netanyahu's religious-nationalist coalition for a broad emergency government.
The veteran right-wing leader was joined by the centrist Benny Gantz, a former defense minister, in the government and war cabinet as both put aside bitter political divisions that have roiled the country and sparked mass protests.
Netanyahu's extreme-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies will remain in government, however. Opposition leader Yair Lapid has not joined the temporary alliance, although the joint statement said a seat would be "reserved" for him in the war Cabinet.
Concern has mounted over the worsening humanitarian crisis in war-torn Gaza, where Israel has leveled over 1,000 buildings and imposed a total siege, cutting off water, food and energy supplies for 2.3 million people.
The enclave's sole power plant shut down Wednesday after running out of fuel, Gaza's electricity provider said.
More than 260,000 Gaza residents have been forced from their homes, a U.N. aid agency said, while the European Union called for a "humanitarian corridor" to allow civilians to flee the enclave's fifth war in 15 years.
Israel appeared to be readying for a possible ground invasion of Gaza but faces the threat of a multi-front war after also coming under rocket attack from groups in neighboring Lebanon and Syria.
