The US military airdropped more than 41,000 meals to Gaza on Saturday, in Washington's fifth operation this month to deliver urgently needed aid to the coastal territory.

Israel has delayed the delivery of aid by ground, leading the United States and other countries to turn to airdropping assistance in addition to planning for maritime deliveries.

A US military cargo plane "dropped over 41,400 US meal equivalents and 23,000 bottles of water into Northern Gaza, an area of great need, allowing for civilian access to the critical aid," the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said of the joint operation.

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

Hamas also seized about 250 hostages, 99 of whom are believed by Israel to remain alive in Gaza.

Israel's retaliatory operations in Hamas-controlled Gaza have 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 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 March 2, providing more than 38,000 meals, then dropped more than 36,000 on Tuesday, more than 38,000 on Thursday and more than 11,500 on Friday.

Highlighting the danger of delivering aid by air, a medic at Gaza's largest hospital said Friday that a drop had killed five people and wounded 10. CENTCOM subsequently said it was aware of the reports, but stressed that "this was not the result of US airdrops."

With the number of people in need of aid in Gaza much greater than could be fed by airdrops alone, President Joe Biden announced Thursday that the US military will establish a temporary port off Gaza's coast to bring in more assistance.