At least 51 Palestinians were killed and over 200 wounded 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.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces on Tuesday killed more than 50 aid seekers in the southern city of Khan Yunis, the latest deadly incident near an aid site in the Palestinian territory.

The Palestinian death toll from the 20-month Israel-Hamas war climbed past 55,000, the Gaza Health Ministry said Wednesday, and local hospitals said at least 21 people were killed while on their way to aid distribution sites.