Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to form a majority government according to initial projections following the elections in Israel on Tuesday.

The conservative Likud party of opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu has become the strongest force in Israel's parliamentary election, according to forecasts.

Likud won 30 to 31 of 120 seats, according to TV forecasts from Tuesday evening.

Incumbent Prime Minister Yair Lapid's Future Party came in second place with 24 seats, according to the forecasts.

The right-wing religious camp headed by Netanyahu won a narrow majority of up to 62 seats in the country's fifth election in three and a half years.

According to the Central Elections Committee, turnout was 66.3% by 6 p.m. GMT – the highest so far since 1999. A total of 6.8 million people were eligible to vote.

Forecasts see the Religious Zionist Party of Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir in third place with 14 to 15 seats. The far-right alliance is seen as a possible kingmaker.

Preliminary final results were not expected to be given by the election committee before Thursday. Previous elections have shown that the picture can still shift until all votes are finally counted.