Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is to undergo hernia surgery

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 anaesthesia and unconscious 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.