An Israeli court must rule on the plight of Palestinians to be evicted in East Jerusalem in a case that is receiving international attention.
The long-awaited trial concerns four of more than 70 families appealing against an order to leave their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Lower courts have ruled that the land where they have lived for decades has historically belonged to Jewish owners.
The issue caused tensions that led to the conflict between Israel and Gaza in May.
After days of clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians protesting the looming evictions, Hamas, the militant Palestinian group that runs the Gaza Strip, fired rockets at Jerusalem in what they say was a partial response to Israeli “harassment” in Sheikh Jarrah.
In the 11 days of hostilities that followed, at least 256 people were killed in Gaza, according to the UN, and 13 people were killed in Israel. The fighting ended with a ceasefire.
The head of human rights at the United Nations has called on Israel not to carry out any evictions in Sheikh Jarrah.
Her office said the displacement of Palestinians by Jewish settlers could be a war crime under international law.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East War and in fact annexed it later.
It does not regard the East as an occupied territory, but regards the whole city as the capital – a claim not recognized by most of the international community.
Israel says the issue of Sheikh Jarrah is not a matter for the state, but a private property that is subject to the decisions of the courts.