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Just days after Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stormed Bethlehem’s Solomon’s Pools in late May, accompanied by hardline Knesset member Zvi Sukkot, both of whom went swimming in one of the pools in an act of provocation, the local Palestinian community responded. A group of residents from Dheisheh refugee camp arrived at the site, Palestinian flags in hand, and jumped in. The community’s response was more than just a knee-jerk reaction to the Israelis — it was an act of defiance.

Since that first protest, the ancient site has become almost unrecognizable. Three of the pools that make up the ancient water reservoir, which are normally off-limits for swimming due to their depth of more than 20 meters, have been transformed into a space where Palestinians compete to swim every day. Activity at the pools now begins in the early hours of the morning. Fishermen arrive to cast their nets into the still waters, as if resuming a daily ritual inherited from generations before them. As the day advances, the place becomes a vibrant hub of community life. Families from Bethlehem, young men from the city’s refugee camps who lack any public spaces of their own, and visitors from different parts of the West Bank spread out along the pools’ stone edges or along the dirt paths surrounding them. Not everyone is coming to swim; some come to rest, others to simply take pictures. But everyone is ultimately here to send the same message: Smotrich and the settlers are not welcome.

Located in the village of Artas, southwest of Bethlehem, Solomon’s Pools belong to an ancient water system that evolved across different historical periods and formed part of a network for collecting and transporting water that served Bethlehem and Jerusalem, which gave it enduring significance for the Palestinians.

The pools are now the latest archaeological and historic site in the occupied West Bank that has come under threat of Israeli takeover.

On the slopes of the mountains adjacent to the pools, no more than four kilometers away, towering over the village, is the mega-settlement of Efrat, one of the largest settlements in the Gush Etzion bloc south of Bethlehem. Efrat’s proximity to Bethlehem and Jerusalem make it a key part of a broader Israeli project to reshape the geographic space around Jerusalem through a southward and westward expansion of Israeli colonization.

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The recent visit by Israeli officials to Solomon’s Pools was not an isolated incident. In an earlier visit to the site, Smotrich had stressed the need to take control of the pools. “It is unacceptable that such an important site remains under the control of the Palestinian Authority,” he declared. “We will change this situation soon and ensure it is reopened to all citizens of Israel.”

Smotrich’s statements echo those similar to what other Israeli officials have made about other archaeological sites under Palestinian control, like the Roman-era ruins in the village of Sebastia in the northern West Bank, which the Israeli government has slated for expropriation, citing “neglect” of the site.

Since Smotrich’s visit, Israeli authorities have intensified their targeting of Solomon’s Pools. Earlier this week, the Israeli army moved to close the site, firing tear gas and stun grenades at Palestinian visitors and beating three young men after arresting them. One of the local activists who helped organize the initiative at the Pools, Muhammad al-Laham, sees these measures as an attempt to........

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