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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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Tehran Announces from Damascus its Support to Turkish-Syrian Rapprochement

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Al-Miqdad received Ali Asghar Khaji and his accompanying delegation on Monday (SANA)
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Al-Miqdad received Ali Asghar Khaji and his accompanying delegation on Monday (SANA)
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Tehran Announces from Damascus its Support to Turkish-Syrian Rapprochement

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Al-Miqdad received Ali Asghar Khaji and his accompanying delegation on Monday (SANA)
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Al-Miqdad received Ali Asghar Khaji and his accompanying delegation on Monday (SANA)

Tehran announced its support for the resumption of rapprochement talks between Ankara and Damascus.
Following a meeting on Monday in Damascus with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad, Iranian Foreign Minister’s senior advisor for special political affairs, Ali Asghar Khaji, said that his country is “pleased” with the resumption of Turkish-Syrian discussions.

He noted that Tehran supports this path to resolve problems through “political dialogue, away from military methods.”
The Iranian official stressed that the first meetings between Syria and Türkiye were held in Tehran, and then continued in a quadripartite manner. He pointed to the need to hold more talks, “so that we can witness further development in relations between the two countries.”
Asghar Khaji, whose statements were broadcast on Syrian state television, indicated that his meeting with Al-Miqdad touched on the latest developments in Syria and the region.
He also revealed that Monday’s meeting discussed economic affairs, the return of refugees to Syria, and the fight against terrorism.
The visit of the Iranian official and his delegation came without prior announcement. It came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed his determination to continue his steadfast support for Syria in its endeavor “to defend its sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity and to ensure its national security and stability”.
Putin’s confirmation came in response to a telegram from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Russian-Syrian relations.
Sources in Damascus said that Putin’s remarks came after statements exchanged between the Turkish and Syrian sides “cooled” regarding the rapprochement. This suggested that Damascus and Ankara’s sitting at the negotiating table, mediated by Baghdad and pushed by Moscow and Arab countries, had become “imminent.”
The sources added that these developments prompted Washington, which had ignored the accelerating diplomatic normalization pace between Ankara and Damascus, to hint to its objection to any rapprochement that would strengthen Iran’s influence in Syria and work to remove the US forces from the country.
On Sunday, media websites quoted US officials as saying that the administration of President Joe Biden is “indifferent” to the rapprochement between Ankara and Damascus. The former US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, also considered that it was impossible to separate Iraq’s mediation between Ankara and Damascus from Tehran’s goal of removing US forces from Syria.