World News : At least 12 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, officials said. The 15-month-long war continues on New Year's Day with no sign of an end in sight. One attack targeted a house in the Jabalia area in northern Gaza, a devastated part of the region where Israel has been waging a major offensive since early October.

A woman and four children were among those killed

Gaza's health ministry said the attack killed seven people, including a woman and four children, and wounded at least a dozen others. Another attack overnight on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed a woman and a child, according to al-Aqsa Shohada hospital. The army ordered people to evacuate an area near Bureij overnight and said it would strike there in response to a recent rocket attack by Palestinian militants.

Hamas has held about 100 people hostage

According to Nasser Hospital and European Hospital, the third attack took place in the southern city of Khan Younis early Wednesday, killing three people. The war began when Hamas extremists attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and kidnapping about 250 people. About 100 people are still held hostage by Hamas.

According to Gaza's Health Ministry, more than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air and ground attacks. The ministry says more than half of those killed are women and children, but it has not said how many of those killed were extremists. The Israeli army says it only targets extremists and has blamed Hamas for the deaths of civilians. The army has claimed that Hamas fighters attack from dense residential areas. The army says it has killed 17,000 extremists, but has not provided any evidence.