German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is under pressure to take a firmer stance on Israel, with members of his own coalition calling for Berlin to join a statement by dozens of Western nations condemning the “inhumane killing” of Palestinians, Reuters reports.

Merz, who leads Germany’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has been increasingly critical of Israel. But Germany was notably absent from the joint statement issued on Monday by the EU Crisis Management Commissioner and 28 Western countries, including Britain and France, that called on Israel to immediately end the war.

The countries condemned what they called the “drip feeding of aid” to Palestinians in Gaza and said it was “horrifying” that more than 800 civilians had been killed while seeking aid.

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