German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi agreed in a phone call the importance of allowing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, a German government spokesperson has said, Reuters reports.

“The chancellor and the president agreed that in the conflict between Israel and Hamas there is an urgent need to significantly improve access for humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and the provision of supplies to the Palestinians,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The leaders’ call came as a growing number of countries, among them Germany, paused payments to the United Nations’ aid agency for Palestinians in response to accusations from Israel that some of its workers were involved in the October 7 attack by Hamas.