Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, saying he has lost confidence in him, according to a statement from the prime minister's office on Tuesday.

There have been regular rumours that he was on the way out but he refused to go, remaining a thorn in Netanyahu's side as he argued for a hostage deal in Gaza and clashed with other parties in the coalition over drafting members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community into the military.