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Shtayyeh Demands Lapid Hands over ‘Villa Hanna Salameh’

A picture of Villa Hanna Salameh posted by the wife of Israeli Caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid
A picture of Villa Hanna Salameh posted by the wife of Israeli Caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid
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Shtayyeh Demands Lapid Hands over ‘Villa Hanna Salameh’

A picture of Villa Hanna Salameh posted by the wife of Israeli Caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid
A picture of Villa Hanna Salameh posted by the wife of Israeli Caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh demanded that Israeli Caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid to hand over Villa Hanna Salameh, a Palestinian house in Jerusalem whose owners were expelled during the 1948 Palestinian Nakba.

Lapid was planning to live in the villa.

At a weekly cabinet meeting held in Ramallah on Monday, Shtayyeh said that Lapid should return the house to its owners.

Shtayyeh also called for not violating the property of refugees who were forcibly displaced from their homes.

Citing UN Resolution No. 194, Shtayyeh said that those who were removed from their homes have the right to return.

Lapid is preparing to move into Villa Hanna Salameh, which is located nearby government headquarters in Jerusalem.

According to Israeli media, the residence is owned by Hanna Salameh, a Palestinian businessman who had represented General Motors in Palestine and Jordan

The villa of exceptional architectural quality was built in 1932 on Balfour Street.

To this day, the residence still contains hallmarks belonging to its original owners.

For example, there is an iron grille inscribed with the words “Villa Salameh” and a large placard in three languages explaining the building's history and design.

Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Lapid was planning to move to the Prime Minister's Office on Balfour Street in Jerusalem, but considering the renovation work in the place currently, he “decided to live temporarily in the nearby Villa Hanna Salameh.”

The house was seized by the Israeli government under the Absentees' Property Law, which grants the state the power to confiscate and impound Palestinian properties and assets that they were forced to leave behind in 1948.

Two previous Israeli prime ministers, David Ben-Gurion and Levi Eshkol, refused to live in Palestinian properties seized under the absentees' law, making Lapid's decision an anomaly in Israeli politics.

For his part, Shtayyeh voiced the Palestinian Government’s rejection of the settlements carried out by Israeli authorities in Jerusalem.

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Arab World

Houthi Leader ‘Pleased’ with Confrontation with Israel, Vows More Escalation

The fire continues for the second day in fuel reservoirs in the Yemeni port of Hodeidah (AFP)
The fire continues for the second day in fuel reservoirs in the Yemeni port of Hodeidah (AFP)
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Houthi Leader ‘Pleased’ with Confrontation with Israel, Vows More Escalation

The fire continues for the second day in fuel reservoirs in the Yemeni port of Hodeidah (AFP)
The fire continues for the second day in fuel reservoirs in the Yemeni port of Hodeidah (AFP)

Houthi Leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi expressed his happiness on Monday at the direct confrontation with Tel Aviv, as the huge fire resulting from the Israeli raids on fuel tanks in the port of Hodeidah lasted for many hours, with the death toll rising to six persons.
The Houthi group claimed responsibility for launching missiles towards Israel on Sunday and attacking a ship in the Red Sea without causing damage.
On Saturday, the Israeli army targeted fuel tanks in the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah and its power station, a day after a drone explosion targeted Tel Aviv, killing one person and wounding others.
Israel’s military said it had intercepted a surface-to-surface missile headed for the town of Eilat early on Sunday. Yemen’s Houthi militants later confirmed they had targeted the city with multiple ballistic missiles to avenge Israeli air strikes on the Yemeni port the day before.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Houthis expressed his group’s happiness at the direct confrontation with Israel, the United States and Britain. He vowed to continue the attacks against ships and Israel, and announced that the strike on Tel Aviv on Friday was the beginning of the fifth stage of the escalation.
Al-Houthi also downplayed the magnitude of the Israeli attack on the port of Hodeidah, stressing that his group would continue its operations, and that any other strikes would not have any impact on its military capabilities.
In parallel, an official source in the Yemeni government strongly condemned the Israeli bombing of Hodeidah, calling it “aggression” of Yemeni sovereignty, and “a clear violation of all international laws and norms.”
The source also warned the Iranian regime and Israel against attempts to turn Yemeni lands, through the Houthis, into an arena for their senseless wars.
While the Yemeni government renewed its support of the Palestinian people and their right to establish their independent state, it stressed that the only way to achieve peace in Yemen was to back the government’s control over the entire national territory, and implement the resolutions of international legitimacy, especially Resolution 2216.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern over Israel’s airstrikes on Saturday in and around the port of Hodeidah in Yemen.
Guterres called on all parties to “avoid attacks that could harm civilians and damage civilian infrastructure.”
In a statement, the secretary-general said that he “remains deeply concerned about the risk of further escalation in the region and continues to urge all to exercise utmost restraint.”