Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Jerusalem, February 18, 2024.Â
Ronen Zvulun | Reuters
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says the Israeli leader will undergo surgery on Sunday for a hernia.
Netanyahu’s office said the hernia was discovered during a routine checkup, and that the prime minister will be under full anesthesia and unsconcious for the procedure.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a close confidant who also holds the title of deputy prime minister, will serve as acting prime minister during the operation, the office said.
Netanyahu, 74, has kept a full schedule throughout Israel’s nearly six-month-long war against Hamas, and his doctors have said he is in good health.
Last year, however, doctors acknowledged he had concealed a long-known heart problem after they implanted a pacemaker.