US conducts humanitarian airdrops into Gaza

​​​​​​​By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US Central Command (CENTCOM) conducted another round of humanitarian assistance airdrops Thursday into northern Gaza to provide relief to civilians affected by an Israeli onslaught.

"The joint operation included four C-130 U.S. Air Force aircraft, and U.S. Army Soldiers specialized in aerial delivery of U.S humanitarian assistance supplies,” said CENTCOM.

The planes dropped more than 50,680 US meal equivalents, it added.

"During today's mission, approximately 20 bundles landed in the sea near the shoreline," it said, adding that CENTCOM does not assess civilian harm or damage to infrastructure "at this time but continues to monitor the situation."

The Pentagon previously said that safety is a "top priority" when planning the airdrops.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack in early October, led by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, killed less than 1,200 people.

More than 33,000 Palestinians have since been killed and 75,577 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities. Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which last week asked it to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.