WASHINGTON: American C-130 cargo planes airdropped aid to Gaza on Thursday, the US military said, its third joint operation with Jordan to deliver assistance by air in less than a week.

US officials say the drops are aimed at supplementing the insufficient supply of aid being brought in by ground to Gaza, but the amount of food provided by air is only enough to feed a tiny fraction of the people in need in the coastal territory, which has been devastated by months of conflict.

“US C-130s dropped over 38,000 meals, providing life-saving humanitarian assistance in Northern Gaza, to enable civilian access to critical aid,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on social media.

“The combined, joint operation included US Air Force and Jordanian C-130 aircraft and US Army soldiers specialized in aerial delivery of US humanitarian assistance supplies,” CENTCOM said.

“These airdrops are part of a sustained effort and we continue to plan follow on aerial deliveries,” it added.

Gaza has faced relentless bombardment by Israel since Hamas launched a cross-border attack on October 7 that resulted in about 1,160 deaths, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory operations in Hamas-controlled Gaza has killed more than 30,800 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.

The amount of aid brought into Gaza by truck has plummeted during nearly five months of war, and Gazans are facing dire shortages of food, water and medicine. The United States launched its first airdrop of food into Gaza on Saturday, providing more than 38,000 meals, and dropped more than 36,000 on Tuesday.