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A6 WORLD NEWS
Monday 16 noveMber 2020
Israel advances plans in sensitive east Jerusalem settlement

ment would seal off the Peace Now said in a state- at this critical and sensitive
Palestinian city of Bethle- ment, adding that Israel time." Much of Jerusalem
hem and the southern West was "taking advantage is already blocked off from
Bank from east Jerusalem, of the final weeks of the the West Bank by a series of
further cutting off access Trump administration in checkpoints and the sep-
for the Palestinians to that order to set facts on the aration barrier. Israel has
part of the city. ground that will be ex- previously moved forward
"This is a continuation of the ceedingly hard to undo in on plans to build in E1, an-
current Israeli government order to achieve peace." other sensitive area east of
policy in destroying the two- The Palestinians seek the Jerusalem that critics say,
state solution," said Nabil West Bank, along with the with Givat Hamatos, would
Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman Gaza Strip and east Jeru- block east Jerusalem off
to Palestinian President salem — areas Israel cap- entirely from the West Bank.
Mahmoud Abbas. Sun- tured in the 1967 Mideast After four years of Trump,
day's development comes war — for their future state. whose policies were huge-
A Palestinian shepherd herds his flock at Givat Hamatos as Secretary of State Mike With nearly 500,000 settlers ly favorable toward Isra-
settlement in east Jerusalem, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020. Pompeo is set to travel to now living in the West Bank, el and who shrugged at
Associated Press the region this week, where and over 220,000 more in settlement building, Israel
he is expected to visit an Is- east Jerusalem, the Pales- faces a new reality under
By TIA GOLDENBERG after four years of a more raeli settlement in the West tinians say the chances of Biden, who will likely restore
Associated Press lenient policy under Presi- Bank — a stop previous U.S. establishing their state are the previous U.S. position
JERUSALEM (AP) — A set- dent Donald Trump, who secretaries of state have quickly dwindling. that viewed settlements as
tlement watchdog group has largely turned a blind avoided. Palestinian offi- Israel views the entire city illegitimate and an obsta-
said Sunday Israel is moving eye to settlement con- cials, who have cut off ties of Jerusalem as its eternal, cle to peace with the Pal-
ahead with new construc- struction. With the Trump with the Trump administra- undivided capital. estinians.
tion of hundreds of homes administration in its final tion over its policies in favor The European Union's for- Under previous administra-
in a strategic east Jerusa- weeks in office, Israel may of Israel, have denounced eign policy chief, Josep tions, Israel held back on
lem settlement that threat- be aiming to push ahead Pompeo's planned visit. Borrell, said he was deeply building plans in the most
ens to cut off parts of the on contentious projects Palestinian Prime Minis- worried about Israel's lat- sensitive areas, including
city claimed by Palestinians before Biden's term starts, ter Mohammad Shtayyeh est announcement, saying Givat Hamatos, amid op-
from the West Bank. a move that could set it tweeted on Friday that this construction in Givat Ha- position by both Wash-
The group, Peace Now, said on the wrong foot with the was a "dangerous prec- matos would cause serious ington and the interna-
the Israel Land Authority new president. edent" that legalizes settle- damage to the prospects tional community, which
announced on its website The approval of the 1,200 ments. for Palestinian indepen- saw such plans as dashing
Sunday that it had opened homes is a further setback Brian Reeves, a spokesman dence. hopes for a contiguous Pal-
up tenders for more than to dwindling hopes of an for Peace Now, said the "The announced settle- estinian state.
1,200 new homes in the key internationally backed par- move Sunday allows con- ment activity will lead to But Israel has been embold-
settlement of Givat Hama- tition deal that would en- tractors to begin bidding the continuing weakening ened under Trump, ap-
tos in east Jerusalem. able the establishment of a on the tenders, a process of efforts to rebuild trust proving thousands of new
The move may test ties with Palestinian state alongside that will conclude just days and confidence between settlement homes during
the incoming administra- Israel. before Biden's inaugura- the parties," he said. "The his term, including in highly
tion of President-elect Joe The Palestinians, along with tion. Construction could government of Israel should contested areas. Many of
Biden, who is expected to critics of Israel's settlement then begin within months. instead show vision and those plans are expected
take a firmer tack against policy, say construction in "This is a lethal blow to responsibility and reverse to break ground after Biden
Israeli settlement expansion the Givat Hamatos settle- the prospects for peace," these negative decisions assumes the presidency.q

BioNTech scientist: Vaccine could halve virus transmission

LONDON (AP) — One of interim results showed the
the scientists behind the vaccine was 90% effective
experimental coronavirus in preventing people from
vaccine developed by getting ill from COVID-19,
BioNTech and Pfizer said though they don't yet
Sunday that he was confi- have enough information
dent that it could halve the on safety and manufac-
transmission of the virus, re- turing quality.
sulting in a "dramatic" curb "What is absolutely essen-
of the virus' spread. tial is that we get a high
Professor Ugur Sahin, chief vaccination rate before
executive of Germany's autumn/winter next year,
BioNTech, said it was "ab- so that means all the im-
solutely essential" to have munization, vaccination
a high vaccination rate approaches must be ac-
before next autumn to en- This handout photo taken in Oct. 2020 and provided by Pfizer shows part of a "freezer farm," a complished before next
sure a return to normal life football field-sized facility for storing finished COVID-19 vaccines, in Puurs, Belgium. autumn," Sahin said.
next winter. "If everything Associated Press The vaccine's develop-
continues to go well, we ers looked at 94 infections
will start to deliver the vac- more than 300 million of make an impact." "I'm very effective vaccine — may- recorded so far in a study
cine end of this year, be- vaccine doses until April confident that transmission be not 90% but maybe that has enrolled nearly
ginning next year," Sahin next year, which could al- between people will be 50%," he said. Pfizer and Bi- 44,000 people in the U.S.
said. "Our goal is to deliver low us to already start to reduced by such a highly oNTech said last week that and five other countries.q