By Death Lubell
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will undergo surgery on Sunday for a hernia, his office said, at a time when he is waging a war against Hamas in Gaza, and less than a year after he received the implant a pacemaker.
“A hernia was found during a routine check-up for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night,” his office said in a statement, adding that the 74-year-old leader will be under general anesthesia during surgery later on Sunday .
Signaling that his condition was not serious, Netanyahu’s office said he would hold a press conference at 4.30pm GMT, ahead of the procedure.
“I assure you that I will successfully overcome this treatment and return to action very quickly,” Netanyahu told reporters at the conference.
Netanyahu was fitted with a pacemaker last July as Israel was trapped in its worst internal crisis in decades, with widespread protests against his far-right government’s judicial review plan.
These protests came to a halt on October 7, when the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas launched its shock attack on southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and returning more than 250 hostages to Gaza.
It was Israel’s deadliest day and the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Israel then launched an air, sea and land offensive in Gaza, with the stated aim of ending Hamas rule and dismantling its military capabilities.
More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, and Israel has faced intense and growing international pressure over the death toll and grave humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s popularity, already slumping due to the judicial crisis, plummeted further after the war, with subsequent opinion polls showing little confidence in his leadership and a defeat by more centrist rivals if elections were held.
With around 130 hostages still in Gaza, there have been continued protests against Netanyahu’s government for its failure to bring them home. The government is facing a new crisis over the exemption of ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service, an issue that is dividing opinion within the prime minister’s cabinet.
Now in his sixth term, Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving leader. He is also the country’s first sitting prime minister to be indicted for corruption. His trial is still ongoing and he denies any wrongdoing.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin will replace Netanyahu during Sunday’s operation, his office said.