Clashes have been erupting over the past week between the Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in Jerusalem, and Israeli forces and settlers.

A long-running legal case, in which several Palestinian families face eviction from homes on land claimed by Jewish settlers, is at the heart of the confrontations during the Muslim holy month, with a key court session due to be held on Thursday

Sheik Jarrah sits just outside Jerusalem's walled Old City, near the famous Damascus Gate. The area includes many Palestinian homes and apartment buildings as well as hotels, restaurants and consulates.

Sheik Jarrah's residents are overwhelmingly Palestinian, but the neighbourhood also contains a site revered by religious Jews as the tomb of an ancient high priest, Simon the Just.

Thursday's hearing at Israel's Supreme Court may decide if the evictions ordered by a lower court are upheld, or if the handful of Palestinian families can appeal.

Human rights campaigners say that if the Palestinians lose the court battle, it could set a precedent for dozens of other homes in the area.

A group of eight Israeli settler families living across the road from the houses they claim say the area was Jewish in the past, and the Israeli court had "decided that we can get back our houses."

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