German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone and urged him to let in more emergency aid into the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reports citing the dpa news agency.

Following the call, a spokesman for Merz said that “it was urgent that Israel immediately allow sufficient humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and to ensure its safe distribution”, the agency reports.

The report comes as international criticism grows of Israeli forces shooting and killing desperate aid seekers at aid distribution points run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.