GAZA, Palestine

Israel is deliberately targeting refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, reflecting a "desire to increase the human cost" in the Palestinian enclave’s most densely populated areas, the government media office in the Gaza Strip said Thursday.

"In the last few hours, the occupation has deliberately focused its attacks on the most densely populated refugee camps” and Israeli airstrikes are targeting "residential areas in the camps of Jabalia (in the northern Gaza Strip), Al-Shati (west), al-Breij and Al-Maghazi (center),” the office said in a statement received by Anadolu.

The statement said the raids left many killed and wounded as well as the massive destruction of dozens of residential units.

It added that the recent episode of airstrikes is "a new confirmation of the occupier's desire to increase the human cost for the victims of this brutal aggression."

Palestinian camps are home to tens of thousands of residents living in narrow geographical areas and in houses with simple structures and less durable building materials in some cases.

The Israeli army is continuing a devastating war on Gaza, killing a total of 9,061 Palestinians, including 3,760 children, and wounding 32,000 others.

In the West Bank, 136 Palestinians have been killed and around 1,900 have been arrested, mostly in night military raids, according to official Palestinian sources.

The Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel on Oct. 7.

Since then, more than 1,538 Israelis have been killed and 5,431 wounded, according to official Israeli sources.