Israeli National Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said two Jewish families entered the Old City home "based on documents claiming that they owned the property." He described the eviction as proceeding without incident.
After the families entered the homes, police requested the documents upon which the eviction was carried out, and according to Rosenfeld they were being "examined by police to determine whether they are accurate or not."
If the police deem the documents to be valid, he explained, they would be transferred to Israeli courts.
The home, two stories with 11 small family apartments, is owned by the families of Suleiman Handal and Kamal Karsh and located in the As-Sa'dieh neighborhood near the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Three of the apartments housed families, totaling 50 residents. It was not immediately clear how many were taken out of the home. According to Fatah Revolutionary Council Member Demitri Delani, many of the women and children refused to be evicted and remained in their homes with barricaded doors.
By noon, Rosenfeld said he believed there were no Palestinians in the home.
Delani said the settlers now occupy five homes, and he fears the building could be taken over as a settler Yeshiva explaining that the building was a school before 1967, after which it was converted into apartments.
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