What is ‘Herod’s Pool’, and why is Israel developing it in the West Bank?

Israel is developing a reservoir on land in the occupied West Bank, with water syphoned off from Palestinians.

Israeli settlers swim in an ancient water reservoir in the occupied West Bank [File: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters]

Israel says that work has begun on a development project around an outdoor pool in the occupied West Bank filled after settlers illegally diverted water from a Palestinian village over the summer.

Instead of restoring the water to the village of Fasayil, near Jericho, Israeli authorities are working to formalise what has now been termed “Herod’s Pool”, named after an ancient Jewish king.

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On Sunday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right settler, announced that “development and preservation” of Herod’s Pool had commenced, connecting it to a larger project to “strengthen [Israel’s] hold” on and preserve historical sites.

“The Settlement Revolution continues!” he declared in a social media post that carried an image of workers and wheelbarrows near the site.

The announcement follows Smotrich’s June pledge of more than three million shekels (almost $1m) to develop the site, even though the pool sits on privately-owned Palestinian land belonging to a farmer.

The illegal diversion of water to the pool is part of Israel’s monopolisation of water resources in the occupied West Bank’s fertile Jordan Valley.

It also marks the latest Israeli seizure of Palestinian land in the name of archaeological heritage.

Here’s what we know about the Herod’s Pool project.

What is ‘Herod’s Pool’?

Herod’s Pool is the name Israeli settlers have given an ancient reservoir that lies in the Palestinian village of Fasayil. It is named after Herod the Great, a Jewish king from the first century BC.

The reservoir sits next to a natural spring.

Although settlers claim it once belonged to King Herod, archaeologists have not established when the pool was built. Alon Arad, executive director of Emek Shaveh, an Israeli NGO that defends cultural heritage rights and monitors the political use of archaeology, told the Reuters news agency that the pool’s origins are unclear.

“We see in many cases the use of archaeology … to create this feeling that the West Bank is exclusively Jewish,” he said.

Israeli politicians and settlers have also sought greater Israeli control over “Solomon’s Pools”, three ancient reservoirs in Bethlehem governorate, which have been used by Palestinians for generations.

Palestinians say the targeting of their water sources is part of a comprehensive plan to seize the resources of the occupied West Bank and force them off their land.

Israelis at a spring near the Palestinian village of Fasayil in the occupied West Bank on August 9, 2026. Residents say Israeli settlers diverted water from the spring, causing crops to die [Mohamad Torokman/Reuters]

The reservoir sits on land belonging to Palestinian farmer Saad Nemer and his family. Nemer says that his grandfather purchased the property more than a century ago. Israeli-issued documentation and older title records reviewed by Reuters support the family’s ownership claim.

Nemer said that settlers had been repeatedly redirecting water from his farm to swim in the pool. He explained that settlers had stolen his irrigation pipeline for the task, and over time the theft had left his farmland scorched and his greenhouses empty.

Nemer also said that settlers had threatened him and beat one of his employees.

The Israeli military body that administers the occupied West Bank, COGAT, has acknowledged that the water was diverted “without authorisation” and said it would investigate, even as Smotrich and other Israeli politicians celebrate the pool.

Nemer told The New York Times that he had been informed by COGAT that his water would be restored, but said it returned for only one day before being cut off again. He is now fearful of approaching the reservoir to reconnect his pipeline due to settler violence.

Saad Nemer visits his arid farm in the Palestinian village of Fasayil in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 9, 2026 [Mohamad Torokman/Reuters]

How have Israeli settlers invoked Herod?

While there is no proven link to Herod, the name features prominently in Israeli heritage projects across the occupied West Bank , which Israel refers to as “Judea and Samaria” in an attempt to separate it from its Palestinian population.

Critics, including archaeological rights groups, say such projects are increasingly being used to extend Israeli control over Palestinian land and heritage sites.

There is Herodium, a sprawling hilltop structure south of Jerusalem, said to be the ruins of a fortress the king erected. It has been under Israeli control for decades and operates as a national park, despite Palestinian protests that it is part of their heritage.

In Sebastia – ancient Samaria – Israel has dedicated large amounts of funding since 2023 to excavate the city’s archaeological park and develop it as an Israeli “ national park “, usurping Palestinians who have long showcased the archaeological ruins as part of their history.

Israeli Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu, who himself lives in an illegal West Bank settlement, has said it would be “first and foremost a Jewish heritage site”. His office cited excavation of “the magnificent Roman city built by King Herod” when describing the archaeological periods the project intends to expose.

The Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron – where Israel has repeatedly restricted Muslim access – stands on land considered to be Prophet Abraham’s burial place by Muslims and Jews. Part of it is believed to have been built during the Herodian era.

In 2017, UNESCO recognised Hebron’s Old City as a Palestinian heritage site, and warned that it was endangered by Israeli settler encroachments.

Ahead of UNESCO’s decision, prominent Hebron settler Yishai Fleisher – who has served as an adviser to Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir – objected to the designation on the grounds that it was “built by a Jewish king”, referring to Herod.

以色列正在被占领的约旦河西岸土地上修建水库，水源来自巴勒斯坦人。

以色列定居者在被占领的约旦河西岸一处古老的水库中游泳 [图片：Ronen Zvulun/路透社]

以色列方面表示，在被占领的西岸地区，一个室外游泳池周围的开发项目已经开始动工。该游泳池是在定居者于夏季非法从一个巴勒斯坦村庄引水后注满的。

以色列当局并没有恢复杰里科附近法萨伊尔村的水源，而是致力于将现在被称为“希律池”的地方正式化，该池以古代犹太国王希律王的名字命名。

问题 1/3：是什么因素导致以色列定居者在被占领的西岸地区实施暴力？

世界卫生组织警告称，援助物资延迟进入加沙将造成“毁灭性后果”（共3份清单，此为第2份）。

加沙基督徒悼念在以色列袭击中丧生的母女（共3条记录，此为第3条）

周日，以色列财政部长贝扎莱尔·斯莫特里奇（Bezalel Smotrich，极右翼定居者）宣布，希律池的“开发和保护”工作已经启动，并将其与一个更大的项目联系起来，以“加强（以色列）对”和保护历史遗址的控制。

“定居革命仍在继续！”他在社交媒体上发布了一张照片，照片中工人们和手推车在工地附近。

此前，斯莫特里奇在 6 月份承诺投入超过 300 万谢克尔（近 100 万美元）用于开发该地，尽管该游泳池位于巴勒斯坦农民的私人土地上。

以色列非法将水引到水池，这是以色列垄断被占领的约旦河西岸肥沃的约旦河谷水资源的一部分。

这也标志着以色列以考古遗产的名义，再次侵占巴勒斯坦土地。

以下是我们对希律池项目所了解的情况。

什么是“希律池”？

希律池是以色列定居者给位于巴勒斯坦法萨伊勒村的一处古老水库起的名字。它以公元前一世纪的犹太国王希律大帝的名字命名。

水库毗邻天然泉水。

尽管定居者声称它曾属于希律王，但考古学家尚未确定该水池的建造时间。以色列非政府组织“Emek Shaveh”的执行主任阿隆·阿拉德告诉路透社，该水池的起源尚不明确。“Emek Shaveh”致力于捍卫文化遗产权利并监督考古学的政治利用。

他说：“我们看到，在很多情况下，考古学被用来制造一种感觉，即西岸完全是犹太人的领地。”

以色列政客和定居者还寻求以色列对“所罗门池”更大的控制权，这是位于伯利恒省的三个古老水库，巴勒斯坦人世世代代都在使用这些水库。

巴勒斯坦人表示，针对他们水源的袭击是旨在夺取被占领的西岸资源并迫使他们离开家园的全面计划的一部分。

2026年8月9日，以色列人在被占领的约旦河西岸巴勒斯坦村庄法萨伊勒附近的一处泉眼旁。村民称以色列定居者将泉水引走，导致庄稼枯死。[Mohamad Torokman/路透社]

水库位于巴勒斯坦农民萨阿德·内梅尔及其家人的土地上。内梅尔说，他的祖父在一个多世纪前购买了这块土地。路透社查阅的以色列签发的文件和更早的产权记录证实了内梅尔家族的所有权主张。

内默尔说，定居者们屡次将他农场的水引到游泳池里游泳。他解释说，定居者们为此偷走了他的灌溉管道，久而久之，他的农田被烧焦，温室也空空如也。

内默尔还说，一些定居者威胁他，并殴打了他的一名雇员。

负责管理被占领的西岸地区的以色列军事机构 COGAT 承认，水被“未经授权”转移，并表示将对此事展开调查，而与此同时，斯莫特里奇和其他以色列政客却在庆祝游泳池的建成。

内默告诉《纽约时报》，他曾接到科罗拉多州政府国防部下属的民事及行政事务协调厅（COGAT）的通知，说他的供水将会恢复，但只恢复了一天就再次中断了。由于担心遭到定居者的暴力袭击，他现在不敢靠近水库重新连接管道。

2026年8月9日，萨阿德·内梅尔参观了他在以色列占领的约旦河西岸巴勒斯坦村庄法萨伊勒的干旱农场。[Mohamad Torokman/路透社]

以色列定居者是如何援引希律王的？

虽然没有确凿证据表明希律王与此有关，但这个名字在以色列占领的西岸地区的遗产项目中占据了显著位置。以色列将西岸称为“犹太和撒玛利亚”，试图将其与巴勒斯坦人口区分开来。

包括考古权利组织在内的批评人士表示，此类项目越来越多地被用来扩大以色列对巴勒斯坦土地和文化遗产地的控制。

耶路撒冷以南有一座名为希律堡的庞大山顶建筑群，据说是国王建造的堡垒遗址。尽管巴勒斯坦人抗议称其为巴勒斯坦遗产的一部分，但希律堡几十年来一直处于以色列的控制之下，并作为国家公园运营。

自 2023 年以来，以色列在塞巴斯蒂亚（古代撒玛利亚）投入大量资金，挖掘该市的考古公园，并将其开发成以色列的“国家公园”，从而剥夺了长期以来将这些考古遗址作为其历史一部分进行展示的巴勒斯坦人的权利。

以色列文化遗产部长阿米凯·埃利亚胡本人居住在约旦河西岸的一个非法定居点，他表示，该项目“首先且最重要的是”将是一个犹太文化遗产地。他的办公室在描述该项目计划发掘的考古时期时，提到了“希律王建造的宏伟罗马城市”的挖掘工作。

位于希伯伦的易卜拉欣清真寺——以色列曾多次限制穆斯林进入——坐落在穆斯林和犹太人都认为是先知亚伯拉罕墓地的土地上。据信，该清真寺的部分建筑建于希律王时期。

2017 年，联合国教科文组织将希伯伦老城认定为巴勒斯坦遗产地，并警告说，以色列定居者的侵占正危及老城的安全。

在联合国教科文组织做出决定之前，希伯伦著名定居者伊沙伊·弗莱舍（曾担任以色列国家安全部长伊塔马尔·本-格维尔的顾问）反对这一称号，理由是它是“由一位犹太国王建造的”，指的是希律王。