Germany and Finland have called for nations to “put pressure” on Israel to allow urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza, AFP reports.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who in recent days has strongly criticised Israel, said humanitarian aid must be allowed into Gaza “immediately”.

“We must put pressure on Israel to ensure the aid truly reaches its target. But it is also crucial that Hamas must not prevent humanitarian aid from arriving,” he told reporters alongside Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo in Finland.

“What we have seen in the Gaza Strip is in no way acceptable,” Merz said, describing the impact on the civilian population as “excessive” while calling for an end to the killing and suffering.

Orpo also pressed for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza urgently.

“Humanitarian aid must get through immediately and we must put pressure on Israel to ensure that humanitarian aid does indeed get through, but also to ensure that Hamas does not prevent it from getting through either,” Orpo said.

“This is a terrible human catastrophe and we must be able to tackle it,” Orpo added.