Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to spend several days in hospital after undergoing surgery to remove his prostate on Sunday, Israeli media reported.

The procedure is taking place in a reinforced operating theatre underground at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital as a precaution against rocket fire from Gaza or the Houthis in Yemen.

The Israeli leader had been expected to resume giving evidence this week in his long-running trial for fraud and breach of trust.

But the court hearings will be postponed a week as the 75-year-old Prime Minister recovers from the operation at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital.

His lawyer Amit Hadad told the court that it followed the diagnosis on Wednesday of “a urinary tract infection stemming from a benign enlargement of the prostate”.

Netanyahu has spent six days in the witness stand so far after starting to give evidence in his defence on December 10.

Protesters call for an hostage deal with Hamas in Tel Aviv on the fourth night of Chanukah (Photo: Getty Images)

Meanwhile, thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv and other cities on Saturday night to call for a deal to release the hostages still held captive in Gaza.

Hopes had grown this month of an agreement with Hamas that would finally put an end to their flight but talks have stalled in recent days.

Some 96 hostages are believed to remain in Gaza, although the IDF believes that at least 34 of them are no longer alive.