Israeli settlers moved into the house of the Sub Laban family in the Old City of Jerusalem on Tuesday, after occupation forces evacuated the longtime Palestinian tenants of the home and arrested solidarity activists. 

The Sub Laban family has lived in the home for 70 years, after renting the property from the Kingdom of Jordan in 1953. However, using the Absentee Property Law, a settler organization managed to take control the property because it was owned by Jews before 1948, a claim the family denies.  The same right does not extend to Palestinians who wish to reclaim property. 

Activists have joined the remaining members of the family in the house since the deadline for the eviction passed last Sunday. 

The United Nations Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian Territories said that the eviction "may amount to forcible transfer," which it emphasized constitutes a "war crime." 

The statement reiterated "that international law requires Israel to end all forced evictions and forcible transfers," and "urge[d] the Israeli Government to end all discriminatory evictions of Palestinians in Occupied East Jerusalem and to urgently provide an effective remedy to the Gheith-Sub Laban family for the human rights violations they suffered today."

The European Union also condemned the move. “We regret the decision by the Israeli authorities, following a court decision, to evict the Ghaith-Sub Laban family from the home they occupied since 1953 in the old city of occupied East Jerusalem,” it tweeted.

Pointing to 10 Palestinian families that are facing eviction in the Old City, the EU urged “the Israeli government to respect international law and let these families live where they have been living for decades.”