Ronen Zubrun/Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears in a file photo on February 18.
CNN
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will undergo surgery under full anesthesia for a hernia, his office has announced.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 74, was diagnosed with a hernia during a routine checkup on Saturday and is scheduled to undergo surgery after work on Sunday.
The operation means the Israeli leader will temporarily withdraw from operations with his country, which is at war with Hamas in Gaza after the Oct. 7 attack.
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Yariv Levin will replace Prime Minister Netanyahu while he is out of office.
Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem on Sunday ahead of the surgery, Prime Minister Netanyahu said he was optimistic about the outcome of the surgery and would return to work “very quickly.”
“I guarantee you that he will survive this treatment and return soon,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said.
Abil Sultan/AFP/Getty Images
Yariv Levin (left) will be filling in for the prime minister while the prime minister is incapacitated.
The operation comes amid renegotiations between Israel and Hamas in Cairo, according to Egyptian media reports.
Negotiations to secure the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by the militant group in exchange for a ceasefire in the conflict that has killed more than 32,000 Gazans reached an impasse last week.
This will be Netanyahu's second surgery since returning to office at the end of 2022. Last summer's health scare ended with Israel's leader being fitted with a pacemaker to cure a temporary heart block.
Prime Minister Netanyahu suffered from a hernia in 2013, which also required surgery.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, a hernia is a gap in the abdominal muscle wall that allows material inside the abdomen to protrude.