World Bulletin/News Desk

Palestinian faction Hamas has denounced Israel's demolition policies in East Jerusalem as "racist."

"The demolition of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem by Israel is a racist policy that targets the Palestinian people's existence," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said in a Thursday statement.

Earlier the same day, the Israeli army issued demolition orders for five Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem.

Last week, the Israeli army demolished the home of Abdel-Rahman al-Sheloudi, who Israeli authorities accuse of ramming his car into a group of Israelis earlier this month, killing a baby.

Tension has run high in Jerusalem since Israeli authorities temporarily sealed access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex late last month after an extremist Jewish rabbi was injured in a drive-by shooting in West Jerusalem.

Unrest mounted further after Israeli forces killed a young Palestinian man suspected of shooting the rabbi in a raid on his East Jerusalem home.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state – a move never recognized by the international community.