JERUSALEM (Ma’an) – Israeli settlers have expanded construction work on a Palestinian-owned house in Jerusalem's Old City they took control of nearly a year ago.

Witnesses said settlers brought construction equipment and furniture to the building, which is owned by Palestinian resident Fatima Dahoody, 80.

The Palestinian Prisoner Society's Jerusalem chairman, Nasser Qaws, confirmed these reports, saying settlers are attempting to add another floor to the building.

Dahoody, the elderly owner, still lives in a small part of the structure. In late January, Israeli settlers began an illegal squat in the home after an Israeli court granted them partial access to it.

Dahoody was staying at the home of her son in Beit Hanina when settlers entered the Old City residence and changed the locks.

A Magistrates court in Jerusalem ordered Dahoody out of the home on 25 January, and granted Israeli settlers access to part of the building in shifts, 8am-8pm for men and 8pm-8am for women.

The woman's son said the family had owned the home since 1990, and that court action by the settler group began after they tried unsuccessfully to take over the home in November 2008. At that time police evicted the would-be squatters.