At least 140 Palestinian homes were demolished by Israeli authorities in occupied East Jerusalem this year, the highest demolition record in recent years, an Israeli rights group has revealed.

Data released last month by Israeli watchdog B'Tselem indicates that 238 Palestinians have lost their homes to demolitions this year, including 127 minors. The second-highest number of demolitions on record was in 2016, when 92 homes were reduced to rubble, according to the group.

Though B'Tselem statistics refer to buildings that were knocked down because they were built without Israeli permits, observers continue to point the finger at the Israeli government for blocking Palestinians’ access to building permits.

The demolition upsurge comes amid a major uptick in Israeli settlements across the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly after they US President Donald Trump took office.

At the same time, Israel sharply restricted the geographical growth of Palestinian communities, forcing many in the increasingly crowded areas to build ‘illegally’.

Palestinian house owners are sometimes forced to demolish their own buildings to avoid the steep fees charged by Israeli authorities. Of the 140 units demolished this year, 31 were dismantled by their owners, B'Tselem added.

One month earlier, another Israeli rights watchdog, 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, who make up more than 60 percent of the population of East Jerusalem, but have received just 30 percent of permits to build homes.

Peace Now estimates that, as a result, half of the 40,000 housing units built in Palestinian neighborhoods since 1967 lack permits, placing them at constant risk of demolition.