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The Abu Nab home in Silwan was taken over by settler group May 6, 2015. (MaanImages)

Israeli forces accompany settlers moving into the home of Palestinian family Abu Nab in the Silwan neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem on May 6, 2015.
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JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli settler organization Ateret Cohanim took over a building comprising three apartments in the central quarter of the Silwan neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem Jerusalem Wednesday morning.

The building was the former property of Palestinian family Abu Nab, while Ateret Cohanim claims it as Yemenite Jewish property prior to 1948.

Some 20 Jewish settlers escorted by special Israeli forces stormed the neighborhood and accessed the Abu Nab building while the family members were away, according to the Silwan-based Wadi Hilweh information Center.

Accessing the building through a nearby settlement outpost known as House of Honey, "they opened the main gate, then they broke open the apartment doors."

All members of the Abu Nab family had left the building on Tuesday afternoon to visit relatives in northern Israel, the Wadi Hilweh Center said.

Clashes broke in the area between the settlers and neighbors and relatives of Abu Nab family in Silwan at the time.

Neighbors telephoned the homeowners, Ahmad, Nasser and Muhammad Abu Nab, who headed immediately to the neighborhood. The three were allegedly stopped and interrogated by an Israeli police patrol "before contact with them was lost."

The Abu Nab family has been living in the building since 1968 after they rented the property from Palestinian Abd al-Razzaq family.

Israeli organizations including Ateret Cohanim and Elad claim that the building was formerly a Jewish synagogue before 1948, and that the Palestinian family had changed its features and turned it into a residential building adding new structures to the building.

An Israeli police spokesperson did not immediate respond for comment.