SEOUL, Foreign Minister Park Jin has spoken by phone with his Egyptian counterpart and discussed the situation regarding the armed conflict between Israel and the Islamic militant Hamas group, his office said Tuesday.

Park and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry agreed that the war must not escalate any further and that a “humanitarian pause” to the fighting is urgently needed to stop the crisis from worsening, the ministry said.

Park noted how Egypt has been seeking to help ease the tension with its active mediation efforts and the decision to allow deliveries of relief items to the Gaza Strip through its border.

The phone talks with Shoukry are the latest in a series of phone talks and in-person meetings Park has had with his Middle Eastern counterparts to discuss the Israel-Hamas armed clashes.

The phone talks took place Monday (local time) in Istanbul, where Park was making a stopover en route to Turkmenistan to attend a forum between South Korea and Central Asian nations.

Source: Yonhap News Agency