'I'll Never Try Again': For Some in Gaza, Seeking Aid Is Just Too Risky

More than 50 Palestinians killed while waiting for aid only a day after 20 died at food distribution site

- Rawan Sheikh Ahmad and Abu Bakr Bashir

JERUSALEM - Mr. Saleem Abdul Kareem walked for hours on the morning of June 17 just to get a food handout at a traffic circle in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis. When he arrived, he came upon a scene of carnage.

"I saw so many dead and injured; all I could think about was running," Mr. Kareem, 32, told The New York Times in a telephone interview. "This was my second attempt to get aid. I got nothing either time, and after what I saw, I'll never try again."

More than 50 Palestinians were killed while waiting for aid in Khan Younis on June 17, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which blamed Israel for the deaths.

The Israeli military said that a crowd had gathered near a stranded aid lorry in the city and that it was aware of reports that people had been wounded by Israeli fire when they approached the lorry.

On June 16, the Health Ministry said at least 20 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and more than 200 wounded when a crowd gathered early near an aid distribution site in southern Gaza. Israel said it was still looking into those reports.

Nearly every day, large crowds of desperate and hungry Palestinians flock to the few aid distribution points left in Gaza, waiting for hours and jostling for a place in the line to get food handouts before they run out.