Germany's Baerbock criticizes Israeli settlements in the West Bank

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on Israel to halt its settlement projects in the West Bank during talks in Tel Aviv on Friday, after earlier stops in Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

The top German diplomat is in the Middle East to promote efforts to advance a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, as well as to increase humanitarian aid into war-ravaged Gaza.

After 11 months of fighting, the Biden administration said this week it believes that a ceasefire deal remains within reach.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that troops stay in a buffer zone in Gaza along the border with Egypt - a demand that has proved the latest stumbling block to an agreement.

Baerbock urged the Israeli government to put an end to settlement projects in the West Bank to help build trust in the region.

Speaking after a meeting with her Israeli counterpart Israel Katz in Tel Aviv, she said that settlement construction in the West Bank was in clear violation of international law.

"In my view, the Israeli government could also regain lost international trust by stopping the current settlement projects as a first step," she said.

Israel's government must also take "stronger and more visible action against the acts of violence committed by radical settlers," Baerbock said. This would be an "important step towards easing tensions in the West Bank".

Baerbock had said the previous day in Jordan that Israel was "an occupying power there and is obliged under the Geneva Convention to uphold law and order instead of jeopardising it".

"This explicitly includes protecting the population from attacks by violent, radical settlers," she said.

Two months ago, Israel approved the construction of more than 5,000 housing units in several settlements in the West Bank and decided to legalize several settler outposts. These improvised settlements are also illegal under Israeli law, but are occasionally legalized retroactively.

Bearbock also met Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Friday, and discussed the faltering mediation talks on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of the 101 hostages kidnapped by the Islamist Hamas.

Baerbock was later due to head to the Israeli-occupied West Bank to meet Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa in Ramallah.

Baerbock has said that she believes the Palestinian Authority could play an important role in a post-war administration in Gaza.

Along with the ceasefire negotiations, her talks were expected to touch on the rash of violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.