In the heart of the West Bank, a centuries-old dispute over water and land rights is intensifying, with Israel's extremist finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, threatening to seize ancient water reservoirs near Bethlehem. This move, which would be a significant escalation in the campaign for control of West Bank land, has sparked outrage in Palestine and raised questions about the future of the Oslo Accords. The pools, dating back to the second century BCE, are not just a historical site but also a vital source of water and recreation for the local Palestinian community. The pools, with a combined capacity of 250,000 cubic meters, are one of the biggest water systems surviving from the ancient world. The threat to seize the pools is not just about water rights but also about the control of land and the reshaping of history. The pools, which were once part of a vast engineering project to supply water to Jerusalem, have become a sanctuary for Bethlehemites, offering a place to sit, enjoy the water, and picnic. The pools are also of archaeological importance, with the main construction carried out by the Romans and a third monumental basin added under Ottoman rule. The pools have been a source of contention for decades, with the British authorities modernizing the system with metal pipes and pumps during the Mandate period. The threat to seize the pools has been justified by hardline Israeli propagandists, who argue that the Palestinian Authority (PA) has allowed the site to fall into disrepair. However, the PA Waqf, the religious endowment that owns the site, had ambitions to develop it for tourism, but those aspirations were crushed when Smotrich withheld the PA's tax and excise revenues, starving it of funds. The pools are also seen as uniquely Jewish, with the site being named after King Solomon, although the name is a historical misnomer. The pools were actually built during the time of another Jewish king, Herod the Great, and the name was maintained over the centuries by local Palestinians, who associated it with the Ottoman sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent. The threat to seize the pools has raised concerns about the future of the Oslo Accords, with Smotrich claiming that the agreement was a 'terrible mistake' and that he is working to 'repair the terrible damage' caused by it. The seizure of the pools would set a precedent for the appropriation of parts of Area A, which was intended to be a halfway stage to the eventual Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territory and the creation of a Palestinian state. The pools are not just a source of water and recreation but also a symbol of the complex and often contentious relationship between Israel and Palestine, with the future of the Oslo Accords and the control of land and water rights hanging in the balance.
