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JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will undergo surgery on Sunday for a hernia, the Israeli leader’s office said in a statement, less than a year after having a pacemaker implanted and time when the Jewish state launched its military operation in the Gaza Strip.
“On Saturday evening, during a routine check-up on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a hernia was diagnosed,” explains the press release from the Israeli Prime Minister’s office.
The operation will take place under general anesthesia, his office added.
“During this period, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, Yariv Levin, will serve as interim Prime Minister,” the statement said.
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Benjamin Netanyahu declared during a press conference that he wanted to return quickly after his intervention, his office specifying that his state of health was not worrying.
“I assure you that I will successfully complete this treatment and resume my activities very quickly,” he said from Jerusalem.
The Prime Minister had a pacemaker fitted in July while part of the population demonstrated against a justice reform launched by Benjamin Netanyahu.
This protest ended with the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7 which killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages.
Israel has since launched a military operation in the Gaza Strip, promising to wipe out the Islamic group.
The Israeli intervention left more than 32,000 dead, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s popularity, which had already eroded with his justice reform, has continued to fall since the start of the Israeli army’s operation.
The families of some 130 hostages still in Hamas hands have criticized the Israeli government for its inability to free them.
At the head of his sixth term, Benjamin Netanyahu is the longest-serving Israeli Prime Minister.
He is also the first sitting prime minister to face a corruption trial which is still ongoing.
(Emily Rose; French version Zhifan Liu)
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