JERUSALEM: Israeli settlers backed by police have taken over a house in Jerusalem’s Old City and expelled a large Palestinian family who lived there for more than 70 years, the family said on Thursday.
The move came after a long legal battle between the Qarsh family and settlers who say they bought the building from its owners, another Palestinian family who emigrated to the United States decades ago.
The influx of hardline settlers into crowded neighborhoods in mostly Arab east Jerusalem, which Israel occupied and annexed in 1967, has raised tensions in the Holy City and hindered efforts to relaunch peace talks.
"We have lived here since 1936. My grandfather rented this house," said Majid Qarsh, 50, one of 50 members of an extended family, most under the age of 18, who lived in the century-old house.
The home belonged to Suleiman Handal, who emigrated to the United States in the 1960s, but Qarsh said his family has had the right to both rent and lease the property since then.
He believes the settlers purchased the house from the grandchildren of Handal.
"If they bought the house, that’s fine. Congratulations. But I have rights here. They can make me pay them rent but they cannot force me out," he said.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said two families had moved in on Wednesday night, "based on the fact they have documents claiming they own the house.
"We are examining the documents to establish if they are legal and genuine and who is the owner of that house," he added.
The head of Ateret Cohanim, a settler organisation that works to increase the Jewish presence in the Old City, said his group was not involved in the matter but that "Jewish concerns" had bought the house in the 1980s.
"Over 20 years ago, Jewish concerns acquired the building from the Handal family and the people who are living there are basically tenants, nothing more than that," Daniel Luria said, without providing further details on the buyers.
He added that the house had originally been built by a wealthy Jewish family in the 19th century and said the latest acquisition was part of a "return" of Jews to the city.
"Whatever arrangements were made were made legally," he said. "If something was done in an inappropriate fashion or something was done that was not legal then I suspect the Jews would not be allowed to stay there."
Qarsh family members who had gathered on the narrow cobblestone road outside the house described how they had returned from a wedding late Wednesday night to find that the settlers had moved in and police were guarding the iron door.
"My husband was born in this house. I had all seven of my children here," Umm Khaled, 60, said. "They tried to get us to sell the house several years ago. They offered us three million dollars and we refused."
The settlers declined to open the door or speak to reporters.
Last year, settlers armed with court orders took over several homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood outside the city’s walls, expelling more than 50 Palestinians and transforming the area into a site of weekly protests.
The evictions have infuriated the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which views east Jerusalem as the capital of its promised state and has refused to relaunch direct peace talks largely because of Israeli policies in the city.
Israel, meanwhile, considers the entire city its "eternal, indivisible" capital based on biblical and historical links, a claim not recognized by the international community.
The house takeover came as the Palestinians met with Arab foreign ministers in Cairo on Thursday to decide whether to move from US-mediated proximity talks to direct negotiations in line with US and international demands.
