DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes killed at least 12 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, officials said Wednesday, as the nearly 15-month war ground on into the new year.

One strike hit a home in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza, the most isolated and heavily destroyed part of the coastal territory, where Israel has waged a major operation since early October. Gaza’s Health Ministry said seven people were killed, including a woman and four children, and at least a dozen other people were wounded.

Israel’s military said it “eliminated” Hamas fighters.

Another strike overnight in the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed a woman and a child, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.

“Are you celebrating? Enjoy as we die. For a year and a half, we have been dying,” said a man carrying a child’s in the flashing lights of emergency vehicles.

Israel’s military said militants fired rockets at Israel from the Bureij area overnight and that its forces responded with a strike targeting a militant. The military also issued evacuation orders for the area.

A third strike, in the southern city of Khan Younis, killed three people, said Nasser Hospital and the European Hospital.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and abducting around 250. About 100 hostages are still held in Gaza, at least a third are believed to be dead.

Defense Minister Israel Katz warned in a statement Wednesday that Hamas will “suffer blows of a magnitude not seen in Gaza for a long time” if it doesn’t soon release the remaining hostages and stop firing at Israel.

Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The army says it has killed 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

American and Arab mediators have spent nearly a year trying to broker a ceasefire and hostage release, but those efforts have repeatedly stalled. Iran-backed Hamas has demanded a lasting truce, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting until “total victory.”

Israel’s previous defense minister Yoav Gallant, fired nearly two months ago amid disagreements with Netanyahu, resigned Wednesday from parliament, citing a proposed law that would uphold controversial exemptions from the military draft for ultra- Orthodox men.

Gallant called the proposed law “contrary to the needs of the military and to the security of the state. I cannot be a part of that.” Military service is compulsory for most Jews. Exemptions for ultra- Orthodox men to pursue studies has generated widespread resentment among the broader public, especially since the war began.

In an event for the final day of Hanukkah on Wednesday, hostages released from Gaza and others called again for an immediate peace deal to bring the remaining hostages home. “Until they return, we will not really be able to move on,” said a relative, Yuval Haran.