Witnesses and health workers say Israeli forces have opened fire near two aid distribution sites run by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as crowds of hungry Palestinians sought food.

Hospitals in Gaza reported the killing of more than a dozen people, eight of them food-seekers, by Israeli fire on Saturday as Palestinians endured severe risks in their search for food amid airdrops and restrictions on overland aid delivery.

The visit, to inspect food-distribution sites and meet with locals, reflects a new sense urgency after cease-fire talks go nowhere.