Land rights case sparks new east Jerusalem clashes

Fifteen Palestinians were arrested in Israeliannexed east Jerusalem overnight in clashes with police over an eviction threat against four Palestinian families.

The second straight night of rioting in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood was fuelled by a years-long land dispute between Palestinian refugees and Jewish settlers in the strategic district near Jerusalem's Old City.

The violence comes as Muslims prepare to mark the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan, with tens of thousands of Palestinian worshippers set to gather at the sacred AlAqsa mosque compound.

Police said protesters torched a vehicle and threw stones outside a house occupied by Jewish settlers.

Palestinians also traded insults with far-right Israeli lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir, who visited Sheikh Jarrah to voice support for the Jewish settlers.

Repeating in Hebrew the refrain "this house is ours", Ben-Gvir announced that he was setting up a makeshift parliamentary office in a tent outside a building occupied by settlers.

Tensions have been fuelled by a long-running legal case over the homes of four Palestinian families on land claimed by Jews, which is due to go before the Supreme Court on Monday.

The latest clashes followed violence on Wednesday night, when 22 Palestinians were wounded, according to the Red Crescent. Police said they had made 11 arrests.

"This land is Palestinian land... and we, the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, we cannot accept that this land is theirs. This land is ours," said 77-year-old Nabeel al-Kurd, one of those facing eviction.