CAIRO, July 14 — At least 17 Palestinians were killed and 50 were wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza City in the early hours this morning, civil emergency and health officials said.

The fatalities resulted from at least four separate Israeli airstrikes on four houses in different areas of the city. Residents and Palestinian health officials said the Israeli military had stepped up aerial and ground shelling.

Yesterday an Israeli airstrike killed at least 90 Palestinians in a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza, the enclave's health ministry said. The attack was the deadliest in Gaza for weeks.

Israel said the attack targeted Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif but it was uncertain whether he had been killed. Hamas said that Israeli claims it had targeted leaders of the group were false and were aimed at justifying the attack. — Reuters