US Military Carries Out New Airdrop of Aid into Gaza

 Packages fall towards northern Gaza, after being dropped from a military aircraft, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, as seen from Israel's border with Gaza in southern Israel March 7, 2024. (Reuters)
Packages fall towards northern Gaza, after being dropped from a military aircraft, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, as seen from Israel's border with Gaza in southern Israel March 7, 2024. (Reuters)
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US Military Carries Out New Airdrop of Aid into Gaza

 Packages fall towards northern Gaza, after being dropped from a military aircraft, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, as seen from Israel's border with Gaza in southern Israel March 7, 2024. (Reuters)
Packages fall towards northern Gaza, after being dropped from a military aircraft, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, as seen from Israel's border with Gaza in southern Israel March 7, 2024. (Reuters)

The US military carried out its third airdrop of aid into Gaza on Thursday, dropping more than 38,000 meals amid an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in the crowded coastal enclave.

The Israeli offensive in Gaza, which is supported by the United States, has displaced most of the enclave's 2.3 million people and led to critical shortages of food, water and medicine.

In a statement, the US military said the aid was dropped by US and Jordanian C-130 aircraft in northern Gaza.

Aid dropped by air is an expensive and insufficient alternative to aid that is trucked in, given the scale of the humanitarian crisis, US officials say.

President Joe Biden's administration is pressing for greater access by land and also exploring a maritime option.



Migrant Boat Sinks off Tunisia with at Least Eight Dead, 29 Rescued

Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)
Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)
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Migrant Boat Sinks off Tunisia with at Least Eight Dead, 29 Rescued

Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)
Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)

Tunisia's coast guard on Monday recovered the bodies of eight African migrants after their boat sank off the country's coast as it sailed towards Europe, a security official told Reuters, adding that 29 other people were rescued.

The boat sank in waters off the city of Abwabed near Sfax, a departure point often used by African migrants.

Search operations were underway for possible missing persons, said Houssem Eddine Jebabli, an official in the national guard.

Tunisia is grappling with an unprecedented migration crisis and has replaced Libya as a major departure point for both Tunisians and others in Africa seeking a better life in Europe.