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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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Israel Orders Evacuation of Part of Gaza Humanitarian Zone

Palestinians walk on the rubble of buildings destroyed in previous Israeli bombardment, between two pools of stagnant water in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 19, 2024, as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas continues. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
Palestinians walk on the rubble of buildings destroyed in previous Israeli bombardment, between two pools of stagnant water in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 19, 2024, as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas continues. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
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Israel Orders Evacuation of Part of Gaza Humanitarian Zone

Palestinians walk on the rubble of buildings destroyed in previous Israeli bombardment, between two pools of stagnant water in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 19, 2024, as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas continues. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
Palestinians walk on the rubble of buildings destroyed in previous Israeli bombardment, between two pools of stagnant water in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 19, 2024, as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas continues. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)

The Israeli military on Monday ordered the evacuation of part of an area in the Gaza Strip it has designated a humanitarian zone.
The military said it is planning to begin an operation against the Hamas group who have embedded themselves in the area and used it to launch rockets toward Israel. The area includes the eastern part of the Muwasi humanitarian zone, which is located in the southern Gaza Strip.
Many Palestinians have been uprooted multiple times in search of safety during Israeli’s punishing air and ground campaign, The Associated Press said.
Earlier this month, Israel said it estimates at least 1.8 million Palestinians are now in the humanitarian zone it declared covering a stretch of about 14 kilometers (8.6 miles) along the Mediterranean. Much of that area is now blanketed with tent camps that lack sanitation and medical facilities and have limited access to aid, UN and humanitarian groups say. Families live in the midst of mountains of trash and streams contaminated by sewage.
The announcement came during delicate negotiations seeking a cease-fire in Gaza, with US and Israeli officials expressing hope that an agreement is closer than ever. A negotiating team will be sent to continue talks on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said. Egypt, Qatar and the United States are continuing to push Israel and Hamas toward a phased cease-fire deal that would stop the fighting and free the hostages.
Netanyahu left Monday morning on a much-anticipated trip to the United States to meet with President Joe Biden, who announced Sunday that he will not seek another term, and address Congress.
Netanyahu said that regardless of who becomes the next US president, “our enemies must know that Israel and the United States stand together tomorrow and always.” He said he will thank Biden for more than 40 years of friendship, while also pushing him for more support on certain issues.
The war in Gaza has killed more than 38,900 people, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The war began with an assault by Hamas on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. About 120 remain held, about a third of them believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities.
The Israeli military said on Monday that it is continuing to operate in central and southern Gaza. On Sunday, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 15 people, including women and children, in Gaza, according to hospital officials and a body count by an Associated Press journalist.
The already precarious humanitarian conditions inside besieged Gaza have worsened with the discovery of the polio virus as water and sanitation services have deteriorated for the territory’s 2.3 million people, most of them displaced. Traces of the virus were found in sewage samples in Gaza. The World Health Organization has said no one has been treated for symptoms caused by the disease.
Israel’s military said soldiers would be vaccinated and it would work with organizations to bring in vaccines for Palestinians.
Netanyahu has vowed to wipe out Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and secure the return of the remaining hostages. Families of hostages and thousands of other Israelis have held weekly demonstrations to urge the prime minister to reach a cease-fire deal that would bring their loved ones home.