Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for “unhindered access” for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, in a telephone call with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, AFP reports Kremlin as saying.

According to a readout of the call from the Kremlin, the two leaders “expressed serious concern about the growing number of civilian casualties and stressed the fundamental importance of an early ceasefire, the evacuation of foreign citizens from the Gaza Strip, and of ensuring unhindered access to the enclave for humanitarian aid”.