How Israeli settlers are seizing Palestinian springs and turning them into tourist pools in the occupied West Bank

Settlers erected Israeli flags at the site and advertised the pool as a tourist swimming attraction through WhatsApp groups, calling for volunteers and staff . A billboard outside the pool announced a 3 million shekel ($1 million) investment from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an architect of settler expansion in the occupied territories .

The land ownership dispute

Nemer presented journalists with documents that appear to show he owns the land that includes both the spring and the pool. He showed Reuters a 2025 land ownership document from COGAT — the Israeli military agency that enforces civilian policy in the occupied territories — as well as a map from the pre-occupation 1957 land registration confirming the same boundaries . COGAT and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich did not respond to requests for comment .

Smotrich's heritage plan

Smotrich's pledge for the Fasayil site is part of a much larger campaign. In August 2026, he announced a 113 million shekel ($37 million) allocation to take control of more than 70 historical sites across the occupied West Bank, building on a 250 million shekel ($83 million) plan approved in May 2026 . "This is a Zionist act of the highest order. A people without a past has no future," Smotrich said, describing plans for new visitor centres and research facilities .

The stated goal is to "preserve" heritage sites and strengthen Israeli tourism in the area . Palestinians and human rights groups describe it as a systematic seizure of land and water resources under the cover of archaeology .

UN data on water infrastructure attacks

United Nations data cited by Reuters shows that Israeli settlers have attacked at least 160 water and sanitation sites across the Palestinian territory in 2026 alone . The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that demolitions and settler attacks have continued to heavily affect Palestinian water systems, schools, and livelihood assets, with settler violence in 2026 already surpassing all of 2025 in fatalities .

By mid-2026, more than 100 incidents of demolition or settler violence had damaged or destroyed over 190 structures related to water and sanitation across the West Bank, increasing reliance on emergency water trucking in vulnerable communities .

A 'water war' across the northern Jordan Valley

The Fasayil case is not isolated. Palestinian researchers estimate that settlers now control roughly 95% of springs in the northern Jordan Valley, systematically cutting off Palestinian farmers and herders from their primary water sources . Palestinian Authority official Adel Yassin has characterized the campaign as a deliberate "water war" designed to render Palestinian life in the Jordan Valley untenable and force displacement .

Other documented incidents include:

• Destroyed wells: In August 2026, Israeli forces destroyed three main water wells serving Palestinian herding communities, which residents described as the worst escalation in a months-long water crisis . Settlers had repeatedly cut the pipelines supplying the community, forcing families to rely on costly water tankers. This time the wells themselves were eliminated .
• Besieged families: In Qusra, settlers besieged three Palestinian families inside their homes — around 15 people including at least two children — cutting electricity and water . The UN human rights office (OHCHR) appealed to Israeli authorities to intervene, describing the families as being "in a state of terror, unable to attend to their basic needs and without access to water or electricity" .
• Solomon's Pools threat: Smotrich has explicitly threatened to seize the "Solomon's Pools" ancient reservoir complex near Bethlehem, a move The Guardian described as a significant escalation in the campaign for control of West Bank land and historical narrative . In late May 2026, Smotrich stormed the site accompanied by hardline Knesset member Zvi Sukkot, and both went swimming in one of the pools in an act that Palestinian residents described as a provocation .
• Ein Samiya attacks: Settlers have repeatedly attacked the Ein Samiya spring east of Ramallah, which serves as the main or backup water source for some 110,000 people . These attacks have damaged pumps, pipelines, and wells, and maintenance crews have been attacked when they attempt repairs .

The cumulative effect

The pattern, according to Palestinian officials, UN agencies, and human rights organizations, is a coordinated campaign of water infrastructure attacks, spring seizures, and archaeological-site takeovers that systematically deprives Palestinian communities of water access while expanding Israeli-controlled settlements and tourist zones. The Pacific Institute, a nonpartisan think tank tracking water conflicts, found that Israeli armed forces and settlers attacked Palestinian water sources more than 250 times in the five years through mid-2025, calling it "the most sustained assault on civilian water supplies in recent years" .

As farmer Saad Nemer put it: "They are now in the process of developing a recreational park around the pool" . His water remains cut off.