"Our civil defence crews recovered 73 martyrs and a large number of wounded as a result of the Israeli air force targeting a residential area... in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza," Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency told AFP.

"There are still martyrs under the rubble," he added.

Bassal said residences of several families had been hit in the strike, which happened late on Saturday.

Gaza government media office confirmed the toll, saying the dead included women and children as the strike had hit a "densely populated residential area".

Israel's military disputed the toll figure given by Gaza authorities.

It said its initial examination indicated that the numbers "do not align with the information held by the IDF (army), the precise munitions used, and the accuracy of the strike on a Hamas terror target".

It did not offer other details as to who the target of the strike was.

Israel, vowing to stop Hamas militants from regrouping in northern Gaza, launched a major air and ground assault on October 6, tightening its siege on the war-battered area and sending tens of thousands of people fleeing.

Prior to the latest strike, the operation had already killed more than 400 people in north Gaza, Bassal told AFP earlier on Saturday.