Hired guards evict elderly Palestinian woman as settlers display what they say is a court order granting them ownership

This article is more than 10 years old

This article is more than 10 years old

Jewish settlers forced their way into a disputed house in east Jerusalem today, using hired guards to evict an elderly Palestinian woman and throwing out other residents' belongings.

The settlers displayed what they said was a court order granting them ownership of the single-storey building. Human rights groups said the takeover was part of a push by Jewish settlers to expand their presence in the traditionally Arab sector.

Palestinians and Israeli supporters clashed with the settlers after they took over the building, and police intervened to restore calm. One Israeli protester was arrested, officials said.

Similar clashes have broken out over nearby buildings in recent months.

"It's clear to me that this is another case of settlers taking the law into their own hands," said Yehiel Grenimann, of Rabbis for Human Rights, an Israeli group that opposes Palestinian home evictions and demolitions. "It's just another step-by-step way of pushing them [the Palestinians] out."

He said 29 members of the al-Kurd family lived in the house evicted today. Some of them had settled there after they were evicted from another house in the same neighbourhood after the Israeli supreme court upheld the settlers' claim on that building.

Conflicting claims and religious tensions make east Jerusalem a frequent flashpoint. Palestinians want to make it their future capital, while Israel insists on retaining control of the whole city.

Israel has built homes for more than 180,000 Jews in new east Jerusalem neighborhoods since the area's 1967 annexation. The US and others have criticised Israeli settlement in east Jerusalem and urged Israel to stop evicting Palestinians and demolishing their homes, saying such moves disrupt peace efforts.