Cairo, June 9 (IANS): The Egyptian Air Force, along with its counterparts from other friendly states, continued to carry out airdrops of humanitarian aid over the north of the Gaza Strip, said the Egyptian military.

The international operation to airdrop aid to Gaza continued from June 3 to June 8, aiming to ease the suffering of the people in the Palestinian enclave "in light of the obstacles and difficulties preventing sufficient entry of aid into the sector," according to a statement released on Saturday by the Egyptian army.

Egypt joined in March a coalition of several Arab and Western states to airdrop relief supplies to northern Gaza, Xinhua news agency reported.

Aid delivery to Gaza has faced great challenges since the closure of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, a vital entry point for aid trucks into the strip, after the Israeli army seized control of the Palestinian side of the crossing in early May.

Egypt has been demanding Israeli withdrawal to resume the crossing's operations.

The country has been making intensive efforts, in cooperation with international and regional powers, "to take serious steps to ensure a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the opening of all land crossings to fully deliver humanitarian aid to the enclave," the army noted in the statement.

Israel has launched a massive offensive against Gaza-ruling Hamas in retaliation for a Hamas surprise attack on southern Israeli towns on October 7 last year, during which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 were taken as hostages.

The eight-month-long Israeli offensive has left 36,801 Palestinians killed and 83,680 others injured, the Gaza health authorities said in an update on Saturday.

The Israeli attacks also reduced large swaths of the enclave to ruins and caused a devastating humanitarian crisis in the area.