Merz: Humanitarian aid must finally reach the people in Gaza

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called on the Israeli government to ensure that humanitarian aid can reach the suffering population in the Gaza Strip without delay.

"We are very concerned about the situation in the Gaza Strip and also about the intensification of the military operations there by the Israeli army, more than concerned," Merz said during a visit to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.

He said that there is ongoing communication with the Israeli government, and the foreign ministers of both countries have recently spoken on the phone several times.

"We are particularly urging that humanitarian aid finally reaches the Gaza Strip without delay and also reaches the people there, because as we hear from the United Nations, a real famine is now truly threatening in the Gaza Strip," said Merz.

Israel lifted a nearly three-month blockade on humanitarian aid on Sunday - however, some of the trucks allowed into the sealed-off coastal area remained for days within the Gaza Strip near the border crossing, as the route proposed for them was too dangerous according to the UN.

"Truckloads of life-saving aid [are] finally on [the] move again," UN emergency relief chief Tom Fletcher wrote on Thursday morning on X.

Merz said: "Comprehensive and truly sustainable help is needed now to ensure that the population there does not continue to suffer."