Solomon’s Pools retain a distinctive place in Palestine’s historical and water landscape, representing an ancient and sophisticated system of water management that operated for centuries. They remained an integral part of the infrastructure extending from southern Bethlehem to Jerusalem, serving as a vital component of a life-sustaining water network linking communities. In recent years, however, their significance has extended beyond their historical value. The site has increasingly become the target of Israeli colonial practices that instrumentalize archaeology, tourism, and religious narratives to reshape the surrounding geographical and political reality, in clear violation of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and international conventions governing the protection of cultural property.
The report further highlights Solomon’s Pools as a living cultural and geographical space that constitutes a point of social and geographic connectivity stretching across southern Bethlehem toward Jerusalem. Any infringement upon the site therefore constitutes a direct assault on Palestinian collective memory and on the geographic and social continuity linking Palestinian towns and communities.
Against this backdrop, the report examines both the legal status and the realities on the ground by tracing existing patterns of intervention and analyzing their settlement-related, cultural, and legal dimensions. It further interrogates the frameworks through which this space is being reshaped and concludes by proposing avenues for international protection and accountability.