German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Saturday spoke to reporters after meeting with her Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, in Tel Aviv.

She decried the “abominable and barbaric way in which Israeli women and children were mutilated and deprived of all dignity” during the October 7 attacks, saying she would never be able to forget the images that she was shown.

“Everyone in Israel has been impacted” by the terror, she said.

Baerbock repeated her calls for the release of the more than 200 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and pledged to support Israel with trauma therapy and rebuilding the kibbutzim destroyed in the attacks.

She also said she had spoken with Cohen about how “the whole world is looking at this war that Israel didn’t want … but has to wage in order to protect its people.”

Baerbock accused Hamas — which is designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, Germany, the US, EU and other governments — of abusing the rights of Gazans by using them as “human shields” in an attempt to thwart Israel’s “right and duty” to defend its citizens.

Still, she said, there is a duty to, “uphold international humanitarian law and the obligation to distinguish between civilian and military goals.”

Israel has come under increasing scrutiny for what many observers say is a disproportionate response to the initial Hamas attacks.

In her remarks, Baerbock spoke of the urgency of delivering humanitarian assistance to those suffering in Gaza, describing how people had been buried under the rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli missile fire.

Baerbock said that, after speaking with several leaders from around the region, it was clear that “all countries, wherever they are, must do all they can to see that human suffering ends.” 

She also warned that “the West Bank must not be dragged into this whirlpool of violence.” 

Israel has conducted a number of military operations in the West Bank since October 7, arresting and killing people whom it claimed to be terrorists, some extremely young, in raids on houses and refugee camps. 

Baerbock noted that she had spoken with her Israeli counterparts about the problem of illegal Israeli settlements and the violence emanating from them, saying it must stop.

Speaking to reporters, Baerbock reiterated Germany’s belief that the so-called two-state solution was the only viable path to long-term peace.