Israeli authorities have demolished at least 140 Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem this year, rights group B'Tselem said Thursday, the highest annual number since it began keeping records in 2004.
B'Tselem said 238 Palestinians have lost their homes this year, including 127 minors. The second highest number of demolitions on record was in 2016, when 92 homes were demolished.
Last month another Israeli rights group, Peace Now, obtained official figures on building permits in east Jerusalem going back to 1991 that provided strong evidence of systematic discrimination against Palestinian residents.
While Palestinians make up more than 60 percent of the population of east Jerusalem, they had received just 30 percent of permits.
The Israeli military said Thursday that it demolished a partially-built structure in a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Ramallah overnight.
It said the structure was being built on the site of the family home of a Palestinian who had killed an Israeli officer during an operation in May 2018.
It said the residence was demolished in December of that year, and that troops returned after they noticed that new construction was underway.
Israel says demolishing the family homes of alleged militants deters violence, while the Palestinians see it as a form of collective punishment.
