Palestinians Decry Israeli Trash Dump Plan

JERUSALEM -- Israel plans to dispose of garbage on Palestinian land in the West Bank, and a Palestinian official immediately denounced it Monday as violating international law, saying, "We are not a dumping ground."

The dump is to be built in a Palestinian quarry between the Jewish settlement of Kedumim and the West Bank town of Nablus, said Adam Avidan, a spokesman for the military's civil administration.

The site is already being used. On Monday, there were thousands of tires, plastic bags full of household trash and plastic beverage bottles mixed in with construction debris in the old quarry.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the plan violates international law. "We are not the dumping ground for Tel Aviv's garbage," he said, adding the Palestinians would complain to Mideast mediators and the World Health Organization.

International law prohibits a state from using occupied territory unless it benefits the local population, experts say. Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war.

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