Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 1 February 2018
Israel vows to retain West Bank control in any peace deal

By JOSEF FEDERMAN said the Palestinians would
Associated Press not accept the presence
JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime of “one Israeli soldier” on
Minister Benjamin Netanya- sovereign Palestinian lands.
hu on Wednesday said Is- “Either there will be full
rael will retain security con- Palestinian sovereignty or
trol over the Palestinians as there will be no security,
part of any future peace no peace and no stabil-
deal, deepening Palestin- ity,” he said. Advocates of
ian fears that Israel and the the two-state solution, in-
Trump administration are cluding Israel’s opposition
colluding on a proposal parties, have long argued
that will fall far short of their that the establishment of
dreams of independence. a Palestinian state is essen-
Netanyahu’s statement ex- tial for Israel’s own survival.
posed a deepening rift that Without a Palestinian state,
has emerged between they say that the number
the U.S. and Israel on one of Jews and Arabs under Is-
hand, and the Palestin- raeli control will be roughly
ians and the Europeans equal. Israel would then
on the other, ahead of an have to choose between
expected peace push by granting millions of Pales-
the Trump administration. tinians citizenship, threat-
Those disagreements could German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, left, meets with the Palestinian President Mahmoud ening the country’s status
complicate things for the Abbas, in the West Bank Town of Ramallah, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. as a Jewish-majority de-
U.S. team. Associated Press mocracy, or turning into an
Since taking office, Presi- solution. These differences tion,” would be to control rangement that would apartheid-like state where
dent Donald Trump has dis- were evident at a meeting security west of the Jordan have few if any equivalents Jews and Palestinians have
tanced himself somewhat Wednesday between Ne- River, an area that includes in the world. different sets of rights.
from the two-state solution tanyahu and the German all of the West Bank, the The Palestinians claim all of It is far from certain that Ne-
— the outcome favored by foreign minister, Sigmar heartland of the Palestin- the West Bank, east Jeru- tanyahu’s envisioned solu-
the international commu- Gabriel. In an awkward ians’ hoped-for state. salem and the Gaza Strip, tion would ease interna-
nity, including Trump’s pre- exchange, Gabriel said his “Whether or not it is defined areas captured by Israel tional concerns over Israel’s
decessors, for the past two country is “very much in as a state when we have in 1967, for their state. Is- half-century occupation
decades. favor” of the two-state so- the military control is an- rael withdrew from Gaza in over the Palestinians.
Instead, he has said he lution. “I was very thankful other matter,” he said. “I’d 2005, but it has settled over The Palestinians have long
would support Palestinian to hear that of course also rather not discuss labels, 600,000 people in the West been suspicious of Trump’s
independence only if Is- the government of Israel but substance.” Bank and east Jerusalem, Mideast team, led by his
rael agrees. The European wants to have two states, That suggests Israel would making it increasingly diffi- son-in-law Jared Kushner,
Union, meanwhile, along but (with secure) borders,” prefer something most ob- cult to partition the land. due to their deep connec-
with the rest of the interna- he said. Netanyahu broke servers would more likely Nabil Abu Rdeneh, spokes- tions to Israel and years of
tional community, remains in with a clarification. define as autonomy than man for Palestinian Presi- support to the West Bank
committed to the two-state He said Israel’s “first condi- independence — an ar- dent Mahmoud Abbas, settlement movement. q

Hong Kong approves ban

on local ivory trading by 2021

By KELVIN CHAN to deter smuggling of ivory heavier penalties in Hong
Associated Press and other highly endan- Kong shows a clear com-
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong gered species. mitment towards the fu-
Kong lawmakers gave final Under the new law, the ture of African elephants,”
approval on Wednesday maximum sentence will in- Cheryl Lo of the World
to a government proposal crease to a 10 million Hong Wildlife Fund said in a state-
banning local ivory trad- Kong dollar ($1.3 million) ment. “This will help re-
ing in the Chinese territory fine, double the current verse the trend of elephant
by 2021, with conservation amount, and 10 years in poaching and illegal ivory
groups hailing it as a major prison, up from the current trafficking.”
victory in the fight to save two years. The existing Hong Kong law Animal conservation activists hold placards and a picture of an
elephant outside the Legislative Council, Wednesday, Jan. 31,
elephants. Wildlife activists applauded allowed domestic sales of 2018 to urge Hong Kong lawmakers to approve a ban on ivory
Lawmakers overwhelm- the move, even as Hong ivory dating from before sales.
ingly supported the mea- Kong moves more slowly CITES, or the Convention on Associated Press
sure, voting 49-4 to amend than Beijing. Mainland International Trade in En- that unscrupulous dealers to the city’s dozens of ivory
the existing law to outlaw China, the biggest source dangered Species of Wild were exploiting that loop- shop owners and hundreds
sales of ivory in Hong Kong, of global ivory demand, Fauna and Flora. Under hole to “launder” newer, of licensed traders, who
which researchers say is the banned sales at the start CITES, ivory trading started illicit ivory, making Hong had demanded tens of mil-
world’s biggest retail ivory of the year after shutting all to be regulated in the mid- Kong a major black mar- lions of dollars in return for
market. carving factories and shops 1970s before a total ban in ket trading hub. The Hong giving up their ivory stock-
The proposal also includes last March. 1990 on international sales. Kong government refused pile, estimated at 670 met-
significantly stiffer penalties “A ban on ivory sales with Activists say there are signs to offer any compensation ric tons (740 short tons).q