Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock urged the Israeli government to enhance the protection of Palestinians in the West Bank amid violent attacks by illegal Israeli settlers.

Settler violence toward Palestinians in the West Bank has grown since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, in the face of ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

"It is the responsibility of the Israeli government to implement and enforce the rule of law in the event of attacks on people who live here legitimately and are attacked illegally," Baerbock said during a visit to a Palestinian community in the West Bank.

It is the responsibility of the Israeli army to protect Palestinians from violent settlers, she added.

Baerbock talked to residents in the Palestinian village of al-Mazra'a al-Qibliya, northwest of the de-facto Palestinian West Bank capital of Ramallah. The village, which has a population of over 5,000, is surrounded by several Israeli settlements. One of the residents - a farmer - described how he was no longer able to cultivate his fruit and vegetable fields because of the settlers.

He had been hit on the head and sprayed with pepper spray while his daughters were also attacked, the 70-year-old retired teacher said.

The Israelis also tried to set fire to houses and drove him out of his home, which is located in a valley between the Palestinian village and the settlement, he added.

Baerbock said what is happening around the village is "illegal under Israeli law and illegal under international law" and that the increase in settle violence since Oct. 7 "also shows that stability in Gaza and the West Bank are closely linked."

She again called for a two-state solution: "Settlement construction is illegal. It undermines lasting peace and jeopardizes the two-state solution, thereby also endangering Israel's security."

According to the United Nations, Israeli settler attacks have surged at an unprecedented rate, causing an escalation that has spread fear, deepened despair and deprived Palestinians of their livelihoods, homes and, in some cases, lives.

In Ramallah, Baerbock met Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki to discuss the issue. She later plans to hold talks in Israel, including with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant before heading to Egypt and Lebanon.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is also traveling the region.

The political focus may have temporarily switched to the West Bank but the war rages on in Gaza and threatens to spill into Lebanon, with Houthi rebels in Yemen also occasionally attacking Israel, prompting a possible fourth front.

The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip has risen to 23,084 since the start of the war three months ago, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority.

Before the Hamas assault, 2023 was already the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank in over two decades, with 250 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire.

Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war.

Settlers claim the West Bank as their historical birthright. Most of the international community considers the settlements, home to 700,000 Israelis, illegal. However, Israel considers the West Bank disputed land and says the settlements’ fate should be decided in negotiations.

International law says the military, as the occupying power, must protect Palestinian civilians. But in nearly six decades of occupation, Israeli soldiers often failed to Palestinians from settler attacks or even joined in.