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A6 WORLD NEWS
Friday 3 February 2023
Israeli settler population in West Bank surpasses 500K

By TIA GOLDENBERG malls and public transport
Associated Press of their own.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s Much of the international
West Bank settler popula- community views the set-
tion now makes up more tlements as illegitimate and
than half a million people, an obstacle to peace. The
a pro-settler group said Palestinians see them as a
Thursday, crossing a ma- land grab that undermines
jor threshold. Settler lead- their chances to establish a
ers predicted even faster viable, contiguous state.
population growth under “All settlements are illegal.
Israel’s new ultranationalist There is no legitimacy for
government. settlements or the pres-
The report, by West- ence of settlers in the Pal-
BankJewishPopulation- estinian territories,” said
Stats.com and based on Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a
official figures, showed the spokesman for Palestinian
settler population grew President Mahmoud Ab-
to 502,991 as of Jan. 1, ris- bas. “The increase in the
ing more than 2.5% in 12 number of settlers is the
months and nearly 16% result of Israeli government
over the last five years. policies that do not believe
“We’ve reached a huge in the two-state solution,”
hallmark,” said Baruch Gor- A general view of the West Bank Jewish settlement of Efrat, Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. which would create an
don, the director of the Associated Press independent Palestinian
group and a resident of the “I think that in the coming is shaking the region and are together home to some state next to Israel. Israel
Beit El settlement. “We’re years of this government days after a visit by U.S. 3 million Palestinians. claims the West Bank is dis-
here to stay.” there will be more build- Secretary of State Antony Israel captured the West puted territory, rather than
The milestone comes as ing than there has been in Blinken, who pledged sup- Bank, east Jerusalem and occupied, saying that ter-
Israel’s new government, the last 20 years of govern- port for an independent the Gaza Strip in the 1967 minology denies the Jew-
made up of ultranation- ments,” Gordon said. Palestinian state. The settler Mideast war. The Palestin- ish people’s historical pres-
alist parties who oppose Settlements have flour- population has continued ians seek those territories for ence in the land. It argues
Palestinian statehood, has ished under every Israeli to grow under the Biden an independent state. that the fate of settlements
placed expanding settle- government, including at administration, despite re- Although Israel withdrew should be part of negotia-
ments at the top of its pri- the height of the peace newed American appeals troops and several thou- tions to bring about an end
ority list. Already the gov- process in the 1990s. Even to rein in construction fol- sand settlers from Gaza to the conflict. Peace ef-
ernment has pledged to Israel’s short-lived previous lowing years of President in 2005, it has charged forts have been moribund
legalize wildcat outposts government, which includ- Donald Trump’s hands- ahead with settlement for nearly 15 years, while Is-
that have long enjoyed ed parties supporting Pal- off approach. The settler building in the West Bank rael continued to establish
tacit government support estinian statehood along population report does not and east Jerusalem. Doz- facts on the ground with
and to ramp up approval with those opposing it, con- include annexed east Jeru- ens of settlements dot the more settlement construc-
and construction of settler tinued to build settlements. salem, home to more than territory, some as small as tion and a Palestinian po-
homes around the West The report also comes as 200,000 settlers. The West a few mobile homes and litical rivalry complicated
Bank. a new spasm of violence Bank and east Jerusalem others sprawling cities, with peacemaking.q

African countries lack ‘immediate access’ to cholera vaccine

By CARA ANNA turers to explore if their fa- Syria also are trying to The WHO has said climate causes the disease can
Associated Press cilities can be repurposed contain large outbreaks. change could make chol- reproduce more quickly in
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Af- to manufacture cholera WHO and partner agen- era epidemics more com- warmer water.q
rica’s public health agency vaccines, Ogwell said. He cies manage a stockpile of mon, as the bacteria that
says countries with deadly didn’t say which ones. cholera vaccines that are
cholera outbreaks on the WHO and its partners rec- dispensed free to countries
continent have no “imme- ommended in October that need them.
diate access” to vaccines that countries temporarily Malawi in southern Africa
amid a global supply short- switch to using a single dose especially is struggling with
age. of the cholera vaccine in- a cholera outbreak. The
The acting director of the stead of two because of country has recorded 3,577
Africa Centers for Disease the supply shortage as out- new cases including 111
Control and Prevention, breaks of the water-borne deaths in the past week,
Ahmed Ogwell, told jour- disease surge globally. Ogwell said. They make up
nalists on Thursday that the They said one dose of vac- the bulk of the new cholera
agency is working with the cine has proven effective in cases on the continent.
World Health Organization stopping outbreaks “even Since the beginning of
and the vaccine alliance though evidence on the 2023, there have been
GAVI on ways to obtain exact duration of protec- 27,300 new cases of chol-
more doses. tion is limited” and appears era including 687 deaths in Health workers treat cholera patients at the Bwaila Hospital in
The Africa CDC is also work- to be lower in children. five African countries, Og- Lilongwe central Malawi on Jan. 11, 2023.
ing with two local manufac- WHO noted that Haiti and well said. Associated Press