Israel demolishes record number of Palestinian buildings in occupied East Jerusalem in May

By Abdel Raouf Arnaout and Betul Yilmaz

JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL (AA) - The Israeli army demolished 33 Palestinian structures in the occupied East Jerusalem last month, a record number this year, an Israeli rights group said on Monday.

The demolished buildings included 16 residential units and 17 non-residential structures, Ir Amim organization said in a statement.

The demolitions brought the number of Palestinian buildings razed by Israel in the occupied city to 93, including 53 residential structures and 40 non-residential buildings, the group said.

Figures released by the Israeli group showed that 23 buildings were demolished in January, 15 in February, 14 in March, and eight in April.

Israel widely uses the pretext of a lack of construction permits to demolish Palestinian homes, as only a small number of permits are issued for Palestinians in East Jerusalem annually, according to Israeli, Palestinian, and international human rights organizations.

In contrast, there has been a rising number of permits issued by Israeli authorities for the construction of settlements on the territory of East Jerusalem.

During the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where the Al Aqsa Mosque is located. It annexed the entire city in 1980, which was never recognized by the international community.