Three US officials said that US military C-130 transport planes dropped food over the Gaza Strip on Saturday after more than 100 Palestinians were killed two days earlier as they rushed to pull goods from a aid convoy during a chaotic confrontation with Israeli forces.

Three planes from the Central Air Forces dropped 66 packages containing about 38,000 meals on Gaza at 8:30 a.m. Eastern US time, according to two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity before public announcement.

The airdrop is expected to be the first of several airdrops announced by US President Joe Biden on Friday. The aid will be coordinated with Jordan, which also conducted airdrops to deliver aid to Gaza.

The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip controlled by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said at least 115 Palestinians were killed and hundreds injured in Thursday’s attack as they rushed to obtain aid. Israel says many of the dead were trampled during a chaotic rush to get food aid, and its forces fired warning shots after the crowd moved towards them in a threatening manner.

John Kirby, White House national security spokesman, said on Friday that air drops were planned to deliver emergency humanitarian aid safely to people on the ground.

The C-130 cargo plane is a military aircraft widely used to deliver aid to remote areas due to its ability to land in harsh environments and its cargo capacity.

The C-130 can carry up to 42,000 pounds of cargo by air, and its crew knows how to load goods, which can sometimes include even vehicles, onto massive platforms that can be safely dropped from the rear of the plane.

Air Force loading officials secure the packages on pallets using a parachute rig at the rear of the C-130, then the crew releases them with a parachute when the plane reaches the intended delivery area.

The Air Force's C-130 plane has been used in past years to air drop humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, and other sites, and the aircraft's structure is used in the annual multinational "Christmas Drop" operation that drops pallets of toys, food supplies, and non-perishable fishing gear to remote sites in the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau.

Since the war began on October 7, Israel has blocked the entry of food, water, medicine, and other supplies, except for a small amount of aid entering the south from Egypt at the Rafah crossing and from Israel at the Kerem Shalom crossing.

The United Nations says a quarter of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents face famine. Relief officials say air drops are not an effective means of distributing aid but are a last resort.