Israel’s Netanyahu Rushed to Hospital, His Office Says He Was Likely Dehydrated

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convenes a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 23, 2023. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convenes a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 23, 2023. (Reuters)
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Israel’s Netanyahu Rushed to Hospital, His Office Says He Was Likely Dehydrated

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convenes a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 23, 2023. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convenes a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 23, 2023. (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday was rushed to a hospital, where he was assessed to be in “good condition” as he underwent a medical evaluation, his office said. Initial tests determined the Israeli leader was suffering from dehydration.

A statement from Netanyahu's office said that he had spent Friday enjoying Israel's Sea of Galilee at a time of high summer temperatures. It said he felt dizzy and his doctor instructed him to go to Sheba Hospital, near the coastal city of Tel Aviv.

The statement said initial tests found everything to be sound, and that it appeared Netanyahu was suffering from dehydration. It said doctors had ordered further tests.

Israel is currently in the midst of a heat wave, with temperatures in the mid-30s degrees Celsius, (mid-90s in Fahrenheit).

Netanyahu, 73, is Israel's longest serving leader. He has served multiple terms stretching over 15 years in office. His current far-right government, a collection of religious and ultranationalist parties, took office last December.

Netanyahu is said to be in generally good health, though he was briefly hospitalized last October after feeling unwell during prayers on Yom Kippur, day when observant Jews fast.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have held weekly demonstrations against Netanyahu's government to protest his plan to overhaul the country's judiciary.

Netanyahu's allies say the plan is needed to rein in the power of unelected judges. But his opponents say the plan will destroy the country's fragile system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of Netanyahu and his allies.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid issued a statement wishing Netanyahu a “full recovery and good health.”

“Feel better,” Lapid said on Twitter.



Russia Launches Nearly 150 Drones against Ukraine as Trump Doubts Putin's Desire for Peace

A view shows ruins of buildings in the abandoned town of Marinka (Maryinka), which was destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Donetsk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, April 1, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows ruins of buildings in the abandoned town of Marinka (Maryinka), which was destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Donetsk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, April 1, 2025. (Reuters)
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Russia Launches Nearly 150 Drones against Ukraine as Trump Doubts Putin's Desire for Peace

A view shows ruins of buildings in the abandoned town of Marinka (Maryinka), which was destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Donetsk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, April 1, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows ruins of buildings in the abandoned town of Marinka (Maryinka), which was destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Donetsk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, April 1, 2025. (Reuters)

Russia launched a sweeping drone assault across Ukraine overnight into Sunday, targeting multiple regions, officials said, after US President Donald Trump cast doubt over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s willingness to end the war.

One person was killed and a 14-year-old girl wounded in the city of Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which was hit for the third consecutive night, regional Gov. Serhii Lysak said.

The attacks came hours after Russia claimed to have regained control over the remaining parts of the Kursk region, which Ukrainian forces seized in a surprise incursion last August. Ukrainian officials said the fighting in Kursk was still ongoing, The AP news reported.

Trump said Saturday that he doubts Putin wants to end the more than three-year war in Ukraine, expressing new skepticism that a peace deal can be reached soon. Only a day earlier, Trump had said Ukraine and Russia were “ very close to a deal.”

“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump wrote in a social media post as he flew back to the United States after attending Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican, where he met briefly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump also hinted at further sanctions against Russia.

The Trump-Zelenskyy conversation on the sidelines of the pope’s funeral was the first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders since they argued during a heated Oval Office meeting at the White House in late February.

Russia fired 149 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks, the Ukrainian air force said, adding that 57 were intercepted and another 67 jammed.

One person was wounded in drone attacks on the Odesa region and one other in the city of Zhytomyr. Four people were also wounded in a Russian airstrike on the city of Kherson on Sunday morning, according to local officials.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that air defenses shot down five Ukrainian drones in the border region of Bryansk, as well as three drones over the Crimean peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

Five people were wounded when Ukrainian forces shelled the city of Horlivka in the partially occupied Donetsk region, the city’s Russian-installed Mayor Ivan Prikhodko said.