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

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.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3What’s driving Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank?list 2 of 3WHO warns of ‘devastating consequences’ due to delayed aid entry into Gazalist 3 of 3Gaza’s Christians mourn mother and daughter killed in Israeli attackend of listOn 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 po...