Incident took place on Tuesday morning as people waited for UN and commercial trucks to enter territory with aid supplies

• Middle East crisis – live updates

At least 45 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning while waiting for UN 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 in Khan Younis were not immediately clear. It did not appear to be related to a new Israel- and US-supported aid delivery network that was rolled out last month and has been marred by controversy and violence.