BETHLEHEM, June 26, 2026 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces on Friday assaulted Palestinians at Solomon’s Pools, south of the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, according to security sources.
They told WAFA that the occupation forces stormed Solomon’s Pools, and unleashed barrages of stun grenades and teargas canisters at Palestinians picnicking in the area. No injuries were reported.
The occupation forces have recently escalated their attacks on the site through repeated incursions and the firing of tear gas canisters, which on previous occasions resulted in suffocation cases among Palestinians.
Located between the town of Al-Khader and the village of Artas, 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.
The pools are now one of the archaeological and historic sites in the occupied West Bank that have come under threat of Israeli takeover.
In late May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a supremacist Jewish settler, toured the archaeological site alongside Israeli officials, claiming that the site's continued management by the Palestinian Authority is "unacceptable" and pledging to change the situation, according to Israeli media reports.
K.F.
