New Delhi, July 17 -- Twenty Palestinians were killed at a food distribution center run by an Israeli-backed American organization in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, mostly from being trampled, the group said. They were the first deaths reported at one of the group's sites, though hundreds have been killed by Israeli forces on the roads leading to them, according to witnesses and health officials.

Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 54 others, including 14 children, according to hospital officials.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation accused the Hamas militant group of fomenting unrest at the food distribution center, causing the stampede. For the first time since its operations began in May, "a large number" of people in the crowd we...