عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

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
TT
TT

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.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

International Coalition Brings Military Equipment to Northeast Syria

US soldiers patrol the countryside of the oil-rich town of Rumeilan in Hasakah province, northeastern Syria, on June 7, 2023. (AFP)
US soldiers patrol the countryside of the oil-rich town of Rumeilan in Hasakah province, northeastern Syria, on June 7, 2023. (AFP)
TT
TT

International Coalition Brings Military Equipment to Northeast Syria

US soldiers patrol the countryside of the oil-rich town of Rumeilan in Hasakah province, northeastern Syria, on June 7, 2023. (AFP)
US soldiers patrol the countryside of the oil-rich town of Rumeilan in Hasakah province, northeastern Syria, on June 7, 2023. (AFP)

The International Coalition forces sent new military equipment to their bases in the Hasakah countryside in northeast Syria, a war monitor revealed Monday.

The equipment included dozens of trucks, armored vehicles loaded with military equipment and vehicles likely to be missile launchers, in addition to trucks carrying logistical materials.

“The Coalition continues to strengthen its bases in Syrian territories by land and air,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement.
Headquartered in London, the war monitor said the military reinforcements consist of 25 trucks carrying fuel tanks, sealed boxes and logistic equipment.

They were sent on Sunday from the Kurdistan-Iraq region, passed through Al-Waleed border crossing and then headed towards the military bases in the Hasakah countryside.

There are nine US bases in Syria: One in al-Tanf, two in Deir Ezzor's countryside, and six in Hasakah.

Meanwhile, SOHR sources said a security meeting was held at Al-Baqer Brigade villa in the suburbs of Al-Jourah neighborhood in Deir Ezzor city, within areas controlled by regime forces and Iranian militias, amid tightened security.

The meeting was attended by second-ranking leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, in addition to security and military officers in the Syrian regime forces, the commander of the Iran-backed Usud al-Uqaydat militia, Hashem al-Sattam, leaders of Liwaa Al-Baqir, Fadi Al-Afees and Nawaf Al-Bashir, and commander of the National Defense militia, Firas Al-Iraqiyah.

The meeting discussed means to enlist local affiliates from Deir Ezzor city, aged between 18 and 45, in the ranks of the Iranian-backed militias, in exchange for financial and security offers, including a monthly salary instead of a salary paid every three months.

Also, all members would be offered security cards that exempt them from arrests or probing.

The sources told SOHR that these measures aim to compensate for the shortage of members in the ranks of the militias, after a recent decision to move all Iraqi, Lebanese and Iranian militia members from Deir Ezzor to Damascus.

On July 17, the Observatory reported that Iranian militia leaders in Deir Ezzor are leaving to Damascus.
According to the sources, the leaders will conduct security meetings to assess their military situation in Deir Ezzor and their combat readiness to deal with the US bases east of the Euphrates.