A Palestinian checks a damaged building after an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on March 2, 2024. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

AMMAN / GAZA / NICOSIA / CAIRO - Jordan and the United States on Saturday jointly carried out airdrops of aid to Gaza, the first time that the United States participated in the multinational humanitarian effort.

Two aircraft from the Jordan Armed Forces airdropped in the northern Gaza Strip, while three aircraft belonging to the US Air Force airdropped in the south, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

The US Air Force said its three planes carried 66 bundles containing about 38,000 meals.

Jordan has been air-dropping supplies directly to Gaza and sending aid planes to Egypt's North Sinai since November last year.

The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 30,320, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Saturday

Some of the operations involve cooperation with other countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, France, and Britain, among others.

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In Cairo, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on Saturday that Egypt contributes to the delivery of more than 80 percent of humanitarian aid to Gazans.

Madbouly made the remarks during his meeting with a visiting delegation from the FAO led by Director-General Qu Dongyu, during which they discussed further cooperation in agriculture and food security.

The Egyptian prime minister noted that although Egypt is among the affected countries neighboring the conflict zone, it delivers most of the aid for the Gaza Strip which is under Israeli siege and bombardment.

During the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza, the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza has been a key lifeline to provide the enclave with relief supplies, donated by Egypt and other countries as well as local and international organizations.

Palestinians wait for relief food supplies in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Feb. 14, 2024. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

For his part, the FAO chief valued the important role played by Egypt in supporting the residents of Gaza affected by the war, stressing that without Egyptian support, the situation in the strip would have been worse, according to the statement.

Qu stressed that the FAO is making every effort to support the people of Gaza in cooperation with relevant international organizations and concerned parties to ensure the alleviation of the suffering of the innocent residents of the Palestinian enclave.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 30,320, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Saturday.

During the past 24 hours, the Israeli army killed 92 Palestinians and wounded 156 others, bringing the total death toll to 30,320 and injuries to 71,533 since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct 7, 2023, according to the statement.

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Among them, 15 died in Al-Aqsa Hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah due to an Israeli airstrike targeting two houses, and two others were killed in an airstrike targeting a house in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.

Ten people were killed in Israeli air raids on neighborhoods of Al-Zaytoun, Tal Al-Hawa, Al-Sabra and Al-Daraj in Gaza City, added the sources.

In the northern Gazan town of Beit Hanoun, a group of people picking herbs to satisfy hunger were targeted in an Israeli artillery shelling, with three of them killed and seven others injured, according to eyewitnesses.

In Rafah, in the far south, an Israeli drone bombed a civilian vehicle in the Al-Shaboura neighborhood in the center of the city, killing two people and wounding a third. They were transferred to the Kuwaiti Hospital.

A Palestinian checks a room of a damaged building after an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on March 2, 2024. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Also on Saturday, Cyprus confirmed that the United States and other unnamed countries are exploring the possibility of establishing a sea corridor from Cyprus to Gaza for the transfer of international aid to the war-ravaged population.

"It is known that the Republic of Cyprus is in contact with the US and other countries in relation to the provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza through Cyprus," government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said.

He told the Cyprus News Agency that the usefulness of such a plan is well known, adding that "the facts on the ground are constantly being evaluated."

Letymbiotis was replying to reports that the US administration was considering the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea through Cyprus.

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CyBC broadcaster quoted government sources as saying that the issues under discussion are where the aid will be delivered and who will be in charge of its distribution.

Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.