Former US President Donald Trump claimed he had visited Gaza despite no evidence of such a trip, the New York Times reported on Monday.According to the report, the comment was made during a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt.When pressed for clarification, a campaign official, who responded on condition of anonymity, stated, “Gaza is in Israel. President Trump has been to Israel.”

The Israel Police neutralized a ready-to-use explosive device that was placed at the entrance of a building in Netanya, the Police reported on Wednesday morning.Officers reportedly arrived at the scene following a report of a suspicious object in the city.After neutralizing the explosive device, the officers transferred it to the forensic laboratories for further evidence processing as part of an investigation into the background and circumstances, the Police added.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday he has written to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning him that draft Israeli legislation to prevent the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) from working in the Palestinian territories would be a "catastrophe.""Such a measure would suffocate efforts to ease human suffering and tensions in Gaza, and indeed, the entire Occupied Palestinian Territory. It would be a catastrophe in what is already an unmitigated disaster," he told reporters.In July, the Israeli parliament gave preliminary approval to a bill that declares UNRWA a terrorist organization and proposes to sever relations with the body. Israeli leaders have accused UNRWA of collaborating with Hamas militants in Gaza.

There has been some progress on a Gaza ceasefire deal, but it is "meaningless" unless a deal is actually reached, Vice President Kamala Harris said on Tuesday during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.The full interview with Harris, who faces Donald Trump in next month's presidential election, will air during Tuesday night's edition of the program."We must have a ceasefire and a hostage deal as immediately as possible," she said.

Russia's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that its forces had taken control of two settlements in eastern Ukraine, the latest gains in their drive to secure the Donbas region.A ministry report said the villages of Zolota Nyva and Zoryane Pershe had been brought under Russian control. The communities have an estimated population of a few hundred residents each.The two villages lie to the north and to the south of the town of Kurakhove, one of the focal points of military activity on the eastern front.Official Ukrainian accounts of the fighting made no reference to control of either village being lost. But the Ukrainian General Staff acknowledged that the Kurakhove sector was the scene of the heaviest battles on the eastern front.

US President Joe Biden is expected to hold a phone call on Wednesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about any plans to strike Iran, Axios reported late on Tuesday, citing three US officials."We want to use the call to try and shape the limitations of the Israeli retaliation," a U.S. official was quoted as saying by Axios.Axios cited the US official as saying that Washington wants to make sure Israel attacks targets in Iran that are significant without being disproportionate.The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.