KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least 45 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip while waiting for U.N. and commercial trucks to enter the territory with desperately needed food, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry and a local hospital.

The circumstances of the killings were not immediately clear.

Palestinians say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on crowds trying to reach food distribution points run by a separate U.S. and Israeli-backed aid group since the centers opened last month. Local health officials say scores have been killed and hundreds wounded.

In those instances, the Israeli military has acknowledged firing warning shots at people it said had approached its forces in a suspicious manner.

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