19th century docs used to evict Palestinians
Nabil al-Kurd, a Palestinian, says he was born in this house, and won't leave it unless it's to the cemetery.
But brick by brick, here in East Jerusalem, he's being inched out -- by Israeli settlers who his family says have taken over half the home.
Using documents from the 19th-and early 20th-century, Israeli courts have upheld several land ownership claims like this in recent months by Israeli settler groups in a string of decisions criticized by the EU.
Nabil's family could be evicted from the second part of the house at any moment.
His daughter Muna says they're bracing:
"My family, for example, has prepared luggage of the important things we need so that if they come in any second, we will be ready. My dad does not sleep, we have a camera at the house, four cameras that show the street, and dad stays up until two to three in the morning just watching if they are coming to evacuate us."
This family is one of dozens of Palestinians facing eviction after Israeli court rulings that their homes are built on land belonging to Jewish settlers.
A lawyer representing the Israeli settlers in Kurd's case has declined to speak to Reuters after multiple requests for comment.
This is a really sensitive part of Jerusalem.
The status of the holy city is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem, in a move not recognized by most countries, after capturing it in a 1967 war.
Palestinians statehood aspirations want East Jerusalem to be the capital.
Court cases like these evicting Palestinians have been running for decades.
Hagit Ofran from the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now has been tracking them.
"There are tens of families here that has court cases against them by settlers who claim that the land here was owned by Jews before 1948 and now they are reclaiming it and want to take the land and take the people out in order to build here a big settlement. The court recently ordered seven houses to be evicted, they will try to appeal but the chances in the courts are very low."
